The Horrible Startening
by The Guilty Bystander
Summary: Cookie cutter Tak and Zim romance. Tak crashed to earth and slowly falls for Zim. Reloaded, if anything is wrong or out of place, let me know.
1. The Startening

Tak glared at the computer screen. No matter how much she hoped they would call back and laugh at how she fell for their joke. It remained blank. Eighty years they had said. Damn them, damn them both to Zirus Minor. She looked back at the crashed escape pod and growled once more, bearing her teeth in anger. Reviewing her memories to make sure she had heard correctly the Irken looked around.

After crash landing on earth Tak sent a distress signal to the Tallest. She asked as politely as she could for them to send one little voot cruiser for her to escape this horrible planet. She had said that Zim had beaten her but it was simply luck that allowed him to do so. They laughed at her. Those two incompetent fools had thought it was funny when she had wanted to make sure she had heard correctly.

The tallest refused to believe that Zim was capable of such a success and had simply said Tak was incompetent. Typical that they won't listen to any other facts but the ones they produce in their delusional minds. She was to be banished here, for forty irk rotations. Tak stood and looked around. It took a moment to sink in but eventually it did. She was here, Trapped, With ZIM.

Even after her exile is up she may never be able to return home. Tak would never be able to even go back to planet Dirt for her old pathetic job. She had failed, and even worse she had failed to Zim. The ultimate humiliation… to be defeated by a defective. The Tallest were right, she was worthless to them. She was worthless to the entire race.

But despite this horrible realization, she could not allow herself to lie down and die now. She had come too far, done too much to be stopped by two fools.

Tak had crashed on top of a large hill allowing her to overlook the neighborhood below. She spotted one house in particular. The walls were green and bent looking and the roof was purple with a large satellite dish sticking out of the top. The windows glowed menacingly in the black night and the overall structure seemed to loom over her like some sort of 'evil lair.'

She shuddered before gathering all usable parts from the crashed pod and from her destroyed SIR unit Mimi. The parts were not particularly heavy but they were very bulky and blocked her front view. This was a blessing as her disguise had been damaged in the 'landing'.

She growled and muttered to herself as she walked. This was humiliating, she was Tak the greatest would be invader were it not for Zim. Years of planning all gone to waste. She needed to… She needed to… Tak drew a blank. She felt empty, something was not the same. Every time she had said those words it was she needed to do something. But she never had to ask herself what. It just was.

Tak looked out from behind the scrap equipment. She was standing right in front of Zim's house. She looked in the deep red windows and saw or heard nothing. This was her only option right? There was no other place she could go that would feel the same as home right? She tossed the scrap in the corner of Zim's fence perimeter.

Tak's eye twitched as something inside of her snapped. She didn't know what it was only that it was now irrelevant. She failed to notice that she could feel something else in her squeedilysooch some sort of feeling that had been suppressed for hundreds of Earth years. Her mind came to a conclusion despite this new feeling. She needed help and the only one who could provide it was in this house.

Zim was her enemy but he was an Irken. The humans where her enemies as well but she needed a place to stay. At least for a while, it wouldn't be permanent and it would work better that way for both of them. She slowly made her way to the front door and raised a trembling hand. Tak was about to ring the doorbell when she scoffed at her own foolishness.

This is her; Tak an almighty powerful Irken invader prepared to go to Zim the absolute lowest form of Irken being for help. He was the gum on their shoes, a nescience to be scraped off and thrown away. Little did Tak know was that to the Tallest she was no better. Thinking better of such a decision she turned around.

There right behind her stood a small dog with large ears and mismatched eyes. Tak looked into its eyes and saw something, this thing was not natural. She screamed before blindly pounding on the door in fear. It took only a moment for a tall robot to open the door. Tak quickly realized she was being irrational but now she could only press forward.

"Welcome home s-" It got no farther as she shoved it out of the way and picked up the small green dog in front of her by its ears. The robot crashed into the broom closet it had been spawned from before both its arms broke off and the ever present pipe fell from its mouth. There would be no opposition from that one. Tak turned her attention to the small robot hanging from her grasp.

"Gir where is Zim?" She asked sweetly. Gir just blinked and screamed out some rubbish about tacos. Tak lost her patience quickly and pulled out her handheld doom cannon. One shot of this wouldn't blow a hole in the bots' head, it would blow off the bots' head. She set barrel in between Gir's eyes and asked again.

"Gir where is Zim?" She asked a little more forcefully. The little robot looked defiant for a moment as he swung back and forth, suspended above the ground. Gir twisted violently, tearing his costume's ears off, and ran away. She was about to fire a warning shot but Gir just jumped into a nearby trashcan. Pathetic little machine was trying to hide from her.

Tak walked calmly up to the trashcan and looked inside. She was shocked; this was the entrance to Zim's 'Almighty' base? She scoffed at the thought but then corrected herself. It was rather clever, she never even would have guessed if the robot hadn't jumped in. But that was another flaw, if this were her base Gir would have gone into duty mode and obliterated the intruder.

Deciding it would be 'impolite' and possibly threatening to just wander his base uninvited Tak sat down on the couch and waited. Wondering when she started to care when breaking and entering became impolite she glared at the screen ahead of her. It reflected her, sitting there. She wore a scowl on her face and crossed her arms.

Tak had trained for years, crawling her way to get here. And where was here? Sitting on her enemies couch, waiting for him to come up from his lab. This was humiliating. This was pathetic. But she could not turn back now. She was now banished, with Zim. She had doomed herself the very moment she set foot on earth.

She traced her sharp, jaggedly curly antenna as she waited. Gir walked in and sat next to her. She scowled even harder. He stared forward as well mimicking her exact pose. Defective little thing was determined to piss her off wasn't it? Tak accepted his challenge and didn't even glance at him despite the rising anger.

Zim stood below the ground level of his base. He was watching Tak intently thought the monitoring cameras. Something wasn't right. She just barged in the front door threatened Gir and then just sat down on his couch? It didn't make sense. Normally she would have appeared in disguise for one, then she would turn off her disguise in a fit of laughter. Something was different this time apparently.

"How dare that Tak! Sit in the house of Zim!" He yelled out. The echo reverberated throughout the long corridors of his base. He was about to go yell at her and capture the situation for it was he: Zim master tactician but he was afra… no this could not be. Zim marched up to the nearby elevator. He was and Irken invader, the very best of any soldier, surely he could handle a cleanup drone.

Tak looked at the ground as it opened up before her, reveling a long elevator shaft that Zim was riding up to the house. She remained where she was despite Zim's glare and Gir's cuddling up against her. The elevator stopped at ground level and Zim frowned even harder at her. Why was she not standing to face him? Why was she not shoving him for ruining her life? Determined to find out Zim decided to start.

"Tak monster! What are you doing here! The tallest will surely arrest you for interfering with the mission of Zim!" He shouted out and gripped the air in front of him at the mention of his name. She winced as he said her name, every time Zim yelled Tak it came out like he was choking. Perhaps he really was going to fall over dead the next time he uttered such an annoying sound? Tak's hopes were dashed as the short Irken finished his rant.

"I didn't come to fight you Zim! I'm here because the tallest have banished me." Tak said in a defeated tone. She waited for a response from Zim, something comforting perhaps? But no she was expecting him to be something he wasn't.

"You lie! Your simply trying to steal my-" Zim did not get any farther in his rant for as he was speaking Tak replayed the message she had recorded from tallest red and purple. Zim listened in awe of what had happened. Finally the message ended and Tak was left with her knees brought up to her face with her arms wrapped around them. Zim knew the feeling, she had failed.

They remained like that for a while. Gir stood up and walked out to get something or another and was not making any form of noise. Zim felt something, some need to comfort her. He could not oblige this feeling appropriately so he simply fetched Tak a blanket which he draped around her shoulders. It would keep her here at least.

That done Zim descended back into his base more haste-fully than he had arrived. This atrocity could not stand! The tallest had made a huge mistake. Tak did not deserve to be banished like this. He felt something… pity? Remorse? No it couldn't be, surely he the almighty Zim is above such feelings? Zim simply did not want to have someone suffer their exile out on earth… yeah that's it. She would get in the way of his mission.

He sat down at a computer terminal and sent a message link to the tallest. They popped up on the screen flashing their fake interest. It was typical of him to call at a moment like this. Zim may have felt a slight twinge of uncertainty for a moment but it was quickly suppressed by his over stroked ego.

"Yes Zim? What is it now?" Purple asked in an annoyed tone as he tried to relax. Zim's voice would undoubtedly set him on edge and make red too annoyed to relax. This would be the second time today and it would most likely not be the last.

"My Tallest I believe you have made a very big, Enormous! Mistake" Zim's voice reached yelling pitch when he said enormous. Tallest purple considered what Zim was talking about. Who would want to go within a thousand light-years of Zim or the dirtball he was living on.

"She's all sad and emotional and sad and… and-" Red realized who he was referring to. They had only one other Irken on Earth at the moment. He was in no mood to argue with a fake invader. Zim should obey them on the simple fact that they were taller, but he seemed to be one of the most defiant fools out there.

"Zim! Tak will be staying on Earth with you end of discussion." Red called out from the mini bar they had in the back. Already a scowl had broken out on his face. He could feel the contempt and general anger at the fact that they, two of the most powerful beings in the universe could not kill a defective like Zim.

"But my Tallest surely she will get in the way of my mission! I cannot work with someone lazing around my base!" Purple was thinking of an excuse when red barged into the room. Purple noted the look on his face; he had seen that look before. He had to stop him soon or all hell would break out right then and there.

"Red! No remember-" Purple was cut off as his co-leader shouted at Zim.

"Zim! You do not have any mission! We sent you there to get you out of the way! You and Tak will be spending the rest of your defective lives of that disgusting planet!" Zim's face went blank. Purple stopped himself. There would be no point in trying to calm red down now, the hatred was pouring fourth from red's eyes and he had no will to be assassinated any time soon.

"You'd better believe it Zim! I'm cutting all communications from you to anywhere outside the Milky Way. You stay there and stay out of our way!" Tallest red closed the transmition. Purple was stunned and red was panting. He hadn't taken even a single breath the entire time.

"That felt… good." Red whispered to himself as much as his companion when he caught his breath. Purple nodded and they both sent a link to the bridge for celebratory fizzy pop. Zim deserved to live out his entire life on the planet he hated most. Perhaps they could even throw in one last organic sweep into their plans for the universe?

Red smiled at the thought. It was as if a great weight had been lifted off of his chest. Zim was alive still but at least he could not bother them about it anymore. Purple allowed a smile to spread across his face as he thought of all the time they had on their hands now. Off time no longer occupied babysitting Zim they could finally relax.

**Hello my readers and or Reviewers. I mentioned that I would post something like this before. Normally I wouldn't want to as it seems like this Idea has been done time and time again. The same rules as my last story stand: If you guys hate it, it's gone. Never to be seen again and hopefully forgotten. Also, I can still change this if you guys want me to. Want Tak to leave him? Done. Want Dib to kill Zim, Done. I will keep my basic guidelines but will most likely incorporate a good idea into it.**

**I fixed up some of the more blatant mistakes and am still looking for some of the less obvious ones. I undoubtedly wasn't doing very well last night when I posted this… Well I hope this makes a lot of it better. One day. This story gets one day before I make the ultimate decision for it.**

**For the possible two of you who are concerned, I will update my other story none the less. This story was finished long ago and all I need to do is prepare it to go onto site. Also, review please. I'd love to hear anything you want to say about this.**


	2. Delicious Denial

Zim was stunned. He was lied to? All of the pieces began to fall into place. The flashbacks happened in rapid succession. He was sitting in his ship with Tak yelling at him telling him his mission was a lie, Sizlor was explaining to him his PAK was still on food service drone level, The Tallest sending him into a sun in a locked up ship… The Trial with those control brains where they told him how amazing he was only after the hours of ridicule over his previous failures.

Zim collapsed in his chair. He had years of plans for the earth, plans of what he would do to destroy it or to take it over. He had wasted a year of his life on something entirely false. He had done it to make up for past mistakes, they couldn't even let him have that could they. Slowly standing up he shakily walked back to the elevator. He reached the house level and slumped against the trashcan.

How many others knew? He thought back, everyone's gasp when he had demanded a mission from the tallest. The flight crew and communication attendants back on the flagship. Everyone who showed up on the trial and cheered or booed at his failures. People laughing at him when he sent that transmition to the Tallest's massive and he was wearing a bear suite… Everyone. He was a laughingstock.

The tears stung his eyes. Something had snapped inside of him. It didn't even register within his mind at the time, with all the raging feelings and ultimate letdowns. He was nothing to the people he cared most about. It all had fallen into place and the Irken everyone knew was crushed beneath the weight of the truth.

Zim was quiet for a long time before getting up and stumbling into the living-room where Tak sat. She had dozed off but he paid no attention. He simply sat in a chair in the corner and stared. He felt his eyes begin to water; everything he knew was a lie. His people, leaders, even presumed friends hated him.

Zim quickly left the room and descended into his base. He did not want to risk Tak waking up and seeing him the Almighty- He stopped himself. He didn't want her to see him in such a weak state, so he went to his sleeping chambers and locked the door.

Zim sat at the edge of his bed for what felt like hours. He did not cry. He had come to the conclusion that a part of him had always known and was just denying the truth. A part of him had always nagged at him when everyone laughed or called him stupid, or made fun of some of his 'clever' plans the part that screamed at him now.

Every time he was made fun of or yelled at his mind had warped their words into praise for him in some sick joke. It was almost like Zim's own mind was protecting him from the world that shunned him. But now his web of elaborate lies had crashed down around him and he was helpless to stop it all. He lay down on his side and stared at the adjacent wall for what felt like hours.

Finally Zim decided that sleep would not come to him. He stood up and opened the door. The base was cold and empty, reminding him of how he felt at this particular moment. Not really paying attention to where he was going Zim wandered the halls until coming upon an elevator. He hopped on and sped upwards. The trip was fast, uneventful, and in almost no time at all he reached the top floor.

Zim was greeted by a house that no longer comforted him. The couch was empty so he sat down and stared at the blank screen. It reflected him but he paid his own image no mind. Why should he? No one else cared about him so perhaps it would be best if he simply stopped caring. He sighed at this depressing realization.

Tak meanwhile was in the kitchen eating a bowl of Irken Cereal. It was not her favorite way to start out a day but there was nothing really that she could do otherwise. She heard Zim's sigh and peaked in the living room carefully. She spotted him and noticed the non-aggressive stance and dark lines under his eyes. Dumping the remaining contents of her bowl into the sink Tak carefully entered. Zim didn't even glance at her as she sat down next to him.

"You tried to tell me before… but I wouldn't listen." Zim said quietly. Tak didn't understand what he was talking about.

"I uh- What?" She asked while fiddling her claws to keep herself busy. She was prepared for him to yell, scream, and make halfway coherent insults that usually involved human tools or foods. She was not prepared for him to stay quiet and start a conversation.

"About my mission. It was a Lie… All of it's a lie." Zim whispered under his breath. He seemed to deflate as he said this. Tak understood how he was feeling immediately. They shared that in common, the lack of objective.

After some thought Tak realized that Zim did not have any other drives, any other reason to get out and do things aside from his mission and his love of the Tallest. His entire world had just been torn from him by the very people he would have marched to his death to appease.

Then it hit Tak as well, she had nothing. That feeling she had gotten when she crashed… She wasn't going for anything. Her mind had covered it up using small pointless tasks go here say that. She was the same as Zim. Well… her mind quickly corrected that last thought. He was defective, she was misunderstood. They sat on the couch awkwardly until Zim slowly stood up and went upstairs.

Tak decided it would be best to leave him to his thoughts for the time being. She thought for a moment before sneaking outside and snagging the parts she had left out there earlier. Once gathered she descended into the depths of Zim's base using the trash can elevator that Gir had been so gracious to reveal. The lift descended quickly but despite that she managed to find the correct floor.

She searched around for a bit before finding Zim's testing\creation bay. Setting the parts down on a nearby workbench, she began to work. She was not making anything in particular, just occupying the time. Eventually Tak managed to get a small power generator working. She set that on the corner of the table and simply stared at it for a while. It was purposeless without something to supply power for.

She reached into the pile of scrap and gripped her Sir unit. Mimi had been destroyed beyond repair but Tak was not about to try. She had made this sir unit solely for the mission, sure she had at some points talked to the machine but it was more to keep her sanity when there was no one around for long periods of time. One thing was for certain, she would miss that reliable little bodyguard.

Tak opened up its head and pulled out the memory chip. She flipped the small piece of equipment around in her hands fondly, remembering the time it took to make it. The memories in held of the two of them working together planning, and destroying. Finally she spotted the small Irken symbol the exact same insignia that she would have killed to serve under.

Tak gripped the small chip in her hand more tightly, she began to feel her neck grow hot and her blood run cold. They had abandoned her at the mercy of her arch nemesis on a disgusting little rock too far out of the way to be bothered with. In a blind rage she threw the chip at a nearby wall, it hit the wall and shattered into hundreds of pieces. She threw it so hard that her arm hurt afterwards.

Tak whipped around to go to the door when she spotted Zim. He was leaning against the doorway staring at the ground in front of her. She felt her rage melt away and be replaced by a slight sense of embarrassment. She then shook the thoughts from her mind; she shouldn't care what he thinks. He is Zim the absolute lowest of the low.

Zim whispered something that she couldn't quite hear. Could he be…? No this is Zim not a regular feeling person. Zim registered from her blank expression that he wasn't loud enough. He cleared his throat and shuffled his feet awkwardly. Obviously this was not something he was accustomed to and it had taken quite a bit of willpower just to think about it, let alone act upon the thought.

"I'm… uh- I'm Sorry." Zim said this as if in great pain. Tak was shocked. This was Zim, the person she hated for several different reasons. The person who destroyed half a civilization, sacrificed his own training soldiers and experimented on innocent people without even a slight twinge of remorse. And he was apologizing to her, his greatest and most powerful enemy that was not the tallest. Her entire body went numb with confusion and shock.

Slowly he turned around and began to walk away but she reached out and grabbed his shoulder. He didn't even twitch as she turned him roughly to face her. Her body was acting on its own as she was far too shocked to even think this much at the moment. She had no idea what she was doing, only that it was the right thing to do.

"I-" Gir burst from the elevator, running as fast as he could, screaming at the top of his circuitry, in his hand he wielded a small pink earth creature as if it were a first class squadron bomber. Tak was fazed enough for Zim to think she was not going to continue so he went to walk away. Gir ran ahead of him still screaming fit to alert the world.

She blinked a few times and tried to capture the previous thought process to find out what her course of action was going to be before such an unexpected interruption. Thinking hard she rubbed her temples. Her mind let it slip from her grasp. Tak simply shook her head of the moment and continued disassembling the machinery in front of her.

**This is a very short chapter and I am sorry because of it. I will update more tomorrow however to make up for today's shortcomings. For all you Gir fans I promise you that I dedicate a little chapter to him some time in the future. I tried to keep him out of the first few parts because it is hard to be descriptive of his actions without making him out of character.**

**As always; if you want anything changed or sped up let me know. I won't always oblige impatience unless it makes sense or has reason. For example, The ZaTr will happen in its own damn time if it even happens at all (suggestions and tips needed). Gir will most likely not go for Mimi as I'm not even sure robots can simulate love or affection as most humans can't even do it correctly. If you want me to do that then I'm going to need suggestions or tips from some of you more experienced writers.**


	3. The Turnpoint

Zim walked down the dimly lit hallways of his base. Bit by bit he lost his patience as Gir ran around him. Finally he snapped, reaching over Zim grabbed Gir by his little antenna and dragged him to a nearby elevator. He was in no mood to make the little robot cry but he did not want to deal with the screaming or annoying squeaking that followed him everywhere.

After a few moments of muffled fighting sounds any bystander would have seen a tree magically sprout with a dog already attached to a rope on it. The dog would then start to chock itself by running around the tree until it snapped back. He then got up and ran the other way, entertaining but confusing. One man on a lawn chair across the street turned away slowly and nodded to himself as if this were an everyday thing.

Zim was fuming as he descended back down to his computer. Not even Gir knew him well enough to know when to leave him alone. He allowed it to scan his verbal password and log him in. Finally he opened his personal logs. There day after day he filed an official report for the past year. It ended the same way every time with: "I will destroy the humans tomorrow." So unknowing of his own leaders trickery he had filled out the mountain of paperwork every day... all for nothing.

Zim deleted all reports as he no longer had any superiors to report to. It would just be a monument to his past life. He now knew he would never be an invader. Zim's life ambition was crushed right before him. They had given him a defective Sir unit, sent him to die, laughed at him, made fun of him, banished him and yet he felt no need for revenge. There would be no point in going up against two practically untouchable beings. If they weren't as dumb as they acted then they may have even remembered to turn on the planetary range self destruct system on their runners.

Zim slowly logged off the computer, there was practically nothing else on his computer that didn't relate to 'work' in some way. He went up the lift and practically fell onto the couch before turning on the TV. There was a small click as it tapped into Irken networking and displayed mindless cartoons. He allowed it to deaden his brain with its magical nothingness. This continued for a few days as Zim and Tak slowly drifted into depression they spent more and more time in front of the TV.

One day when they both sat there without disguises, Tak's mouth wide open and drooling a bit and Zim upside down with the exact same brain dead expression the door was kicked in. No one even glanced in Dibs direction as he videotaped the entire scene for a moment with an insane grin on his face. How he even got past security was somewhat unknown. Tak could guess but nowadays she and Zim didn't care.

"Zim you fool! I've got you without your-" he stopped when he saw both Zim and Tak weren't even paying attention. This was new to him. Within his entire career as a 'paranormal' investigator, Dib had never encountered anything that hadn't fought back when he tried to expose it. Traps popped into his head before he disciplined himself for that little slip up and continuing inside with more caution.

"Zim?" he asked curiously as he walked over to them. He took each step carefully, making sure to look up for any deadly traps or spike pits. Zim might not even be here, this could be another hologram just distracting him as the Irken targeted his own base with some sort of death ray. Illogical but it had happened before.

"Hey how's it going?" Zim mumbled as he continued to watch the seemingly endless commercials.

"Uhh… its going fine I guess. Tak? When did you get here?" Tak closed her mouth and glanced in his direction, noticing the camera first. Did it even matter that he had proof? The humans would just think he had photo shopped it wouldn't they? Or they would just ignore him as usual.

"About a week ago." She murmured without even looking back at him. Dib was confused. He grabbed the remote and shut off the TV Zim and Tak blinked before Dib stepped in front of them.

"Okay something's not right." Zim got up and sat normally. Tak gathered her mind for a moment before looking at Dib more seriously and with a thin shadow of that professional glint she usually had. Dib turned off his camera and looked at them each in turn before continuing.

"Why are you not trying to destroy the human race? And why are you not trying to destroy Zim?" Dib pulled up a chair and sat in front of them. This was like human therapy or counseling, nice little power play for the dib worm wasn't it. Zim was the first to respond.

"What's the point?" He asked halfheartedly. Dip looked at him in awe. Zim had never needed a point to try and destroy the humans. He had always chalked it down as them being ugly, smelly, stupid, or just flawed but he never gave a real reason. That ruined his feeling of control for the entire situation.

"Well uh-" Dib was about to continue but Tak provided more useful information.

"Our leaders banished me here and just told Zim that his mission was just a joke. Were both stuck here." Dib looked shocked for a moment. That was a lot to take in. Zim a joke? That wouldn't be unexpected but the whole banishing thing. Would they be above using this against him? Then he shook his head and his face was contorted in anger.

"You really think I'll believe that? Zim! You must be behind this! You're going to try and catch me with my guard down! Well I'm not falling for it!" Dib yelled at them as he backed away to the door. He eventually ran home, forgetting the video camera as it fell from the chair that had been occupied by its previous master only moments ago. Tak sighed and stood up. This was Zim's arch nemesis? She could dispose of him in a matter of seconds.

She walked into the bathroom and looked into the mirror. All of her battle equipment was off and she wore just the standard Irken dress-like suit. She did not pay attention to this however; she was more concerned with her eyes. Tak always had very determined but lively eyes, now they were sunken and empty. She shook her head.

"Is this who I want to be?" she asked herself aloud. She gripped the counter and stared more intently at her image. Suddenly something fired up in her. Determination? Anger? It filled her with a new sense of purpose causing her to dig her claws into the counter before her. A familiar feeling rushed over her like warm water over sun baked sand.

She marched out of the bathroom confidently and grabbed Zim by his arm, dragged him down the hall to the bathroom, and set him in front of the mirror. He was about to protest when he looked into her eyes. The look she gave him left no room for compromising much less arguing. She motioned meaningfully to the mirror.

Zim looked into the mirror and saw his deplorable state. His face was covered in filth, his antenna's were bent and drooping and his eyes had lost their ruby glow. He looked utterly pathetic. Tak stood behind him, holding his shoulders she turned him around to face her. The look on her face reminded him of when he had first seen her out of her disguise.

"Is this who you wanted to be when you were just a smeet Zim!" She asked forcefully and somewhat accusingly. He looked back at her with a confused look in his eye for a moment before considering the question. She dragged him out of the bathroom and looked him in the eyes while holding him above her by his shoulders.

"We are Irken! We may be banished but they can't take that away from us. We were invaders, the best of the best!" Zim looked at her with a bewildered look on his face. She could feel his depression breaking like a thin slab of ice.

"When I first met you Zim you were empowered. You are Zim! You almost destroyed all of the mighty Irken civilization!" Zim snapped out of his mind and looked at her, this would normally have invoked denial but he no longer had the energy to hide it. Destroying a powerful civilization singlehandedly did invoke a sense of accomplishment didn't it? That familiar look returned to his eyes as she dropped him down.

"We will find a new purpose! If we have to work ourselves to the limit we will find something to do other than mope around!" Tak held out her hand to Zim He had fallen to the floor from when she dropped him. He looked up at her as the light shown in through one of his red windows and hit the dust that had been scattered from his fall. It looked as if a burning haze had taken residence behind her. A chill went down his spine for a moment.

"Are you with me Irken Zim? Will you stay the way you are or will you fulfill your first intentions with this filthy planet?" Tak asked in her most powerful and commanding voice as she extended a hand down to him. Zim grabbed her hand without hesitation and she pulled him up.

He got to his feet and shouted out "I am ZIM!" His words reverberated throughout the halls for what seemed like miles. Tak nodded with a smirk on her face. She had no idea her speeches could be so empowering. Now standing with her Zim looked at her with a new light in his eyes.

"Now what are we going to do?" Zim asked confident that she knew the answer. Tak waited a moment before answering with new conviction.

"Were going to find my ship! Then lay waste to Earth's defenses!" Tak and Zim joined each other in a maniacal laugh that seemed to reverberate evilly throughout the house. Gir and Mini moose sidled up next to Zim and started to laugh as well.


	4. Distrust

Zim bolted upright from sleep mode with a sharp gasp as he felt the sudden sensation of falling. His green skin was covered in sweat and his uniform was in complete disarray. The alien looked around nervously as the lingering effects of another nightmare faded away from his mind like the dissipating smoke after a fire. He tried to move only to find that he was still connected to the sleep regulator. This would explain why he had the weightless feeling.

Looking down and concentrating, he willed the cables to release him from their grasp. They obliged almost immediately and Zim fell to his unsteady feet. This triggered that all too familiar feeling of blood rushing to one's head that inevitably leads to the person (or in this particular case Irken) staggering for but a moment before getting a grip over their mind and their sense of displacement. Once he had control over himself, he reflected on the night's dream.

This one vision had been worse than the others; Zim had felt that he was alone, without purpose, and slowly fading away into the nothingness of a distant memory. He felt detached, cut off from the great society that is Irken civilization now that he knew for sure that there was no going back. He was banished, far from any civilized point in the galaxy, on earth.

Zim shuddered at the simple mention of the planet's name, this rock had absolutely nothing of value and he was doomed to rot here… alone. Not truly without any form of company, as there were the humans. Even though they exist as barbaric beasts incapable of understanding that they are all human and are simply wasting resources fighting each other. Unproductive as they are, he was stuck with them.

As if that weren't bad enough, there was another who lived on this planet with him. Within his own fortress no less. Tak could not be trusted, even now she could be setting up every situation like dominoes, ready to knock them all down and crush him. It didn't matter that she was his partner; she herself had taught him that no one could be trusted more than one's own self.

Tak could gain a lot by killing him, a base, weapons, minions and something to appeal to the tallest for freedom from their wretched prison. She had held a grudge for so long that a few months of careful plotting would be nothing but a trifle. Danger was everywhere, chaos was imminent, and no one could be trusted.

Zim staggered towards the door like a drunk as he described his current situation to himself within the confines of his mind. While it was not as bad as his dream had portrayed, it was still somewhat unbearable. What some of his previous commanders would have called a 'tactical minefield.' He would require a smeet's marching pace to be able to get out with only the smallest of fatal injuries.

The recharge room door opened and Zim thought carefully about what he had planned for today as he exited. After some deep reflection on his progress, the Irken marched off in the direction of his engineering core, and by extension the experimentation bay. Perhaps he could create some sort of a failsafe in case Tak tried to take over his base, Gir or more frighteningly, Mini moose.

Tak had seemed fascinated with the thing and studied it often. This had not been unexpected as he himself had been intrigued by the doomsday device when he first found it. But as time passed, he lost interest in it. None of his technology could even hope to even scratch the 'skin' layering the outside of the machine. He had tried almost everything and still it remained intact and unable, if not somewhat unwilling, to be studied. Despite reaching every dead end he had, she continued undeterred.

In time, Tak started to delve deeper and deeper into the mixture of machine and flesh, claiming that no other machine molded the two so perfectly. Not even Irkens could compare in her opinion, despite the technology the control brains had brought them. An obviously defective thought as their race was without any error. Despite his better judgment, he tolerated the possible security risk and continued to give her access to it. He probably would regret it later… but he did it anyway.

Zim turned a corner and was immediately broken from his thoughts. Jumping backwards in surprise as he saw Tak jump back as well with the same wide eyed expression he had. He did not have time to think for more than a second before the female was all over him in but three long and graceful strides that made her flow from one spot to the other, confusing any viewer and obviously designed to keep a possible attacker guessing.

Their PAK legs extended and pointed at each other as she grabbed him by the front of his uniform with one claw and held a long wicked looking knife to his throat with the other. The male's previous reaction of surprise had melted away into one of suspicion and distrust, causing his eyes to narrow in anger. She apparently wasn't going to wait to take him out.

Despite her obvious intentions, they simply stood there. Zim was held by his collar as Tak prepared to slit his throat and or impale him with her PAK legs as he prepared to block them with his own. The female Irken's eyes were blank and narrowed as she looked at him, but she did not slide the knife away to kill him. The male in turn did not pull the trigger on the handheld doom cannon he had silently pulled from his PAK and was now aiming at her chest.

Neither moved for some time. Adrenalin coursed through each being's veins like boiling energy that demanded to be spent. Training drained all emotion from each Irken's face as unregistered parts of their minds rapidly prodded at the situation, trying to preserve their existence. Sweat beaded on the male's face as he looked, not at the knife, but into her eyes, trying to take control of their current predicament.

"So… What are we going to do here?" Zim asked evenly when he realized that the situation was not disarming itself any time soon. Tak flexed her grip on the knife and re-angled it diagonally across his neck, he in turn got a better grip on his gun. She then looked thoughtful about what steps to make first, causing her knife to back away about a half inch from his neck, and her eyes to become less slanted.

"You were sneaking up on me." Tak once again held the knife, rigid and poised against him as her eyes once again became filled with distrust and anger as she apparently came to a conclusion. Zim barely shook his head no, feeling a prick as he bumped against the blade. Afterwards he felt a small trickle of blood running down his neck. The female looked thoughtful for a moment as she considered this new factor.

"If not then what were you doing here?" She asked in a dangerous tone. She looked calm, controlled, focused and dangerous. Zim dared not swallow for fear he would draw more blood, but he had to speak in hopes of postponing this little disagreement. And it would have to be resolved at some point, there was no doubt with that.

"I was going to the engineering core for maintenance." He lied carefully. He felt his blood pulse for a moment. Tak's eyes searched his as he focused to keep them as blank and cool as thin sheet of glass. Disbelief was painfully evident on her face as she did not loosen her grip on him. His eyes widened to a neutral state as he realized that he could not prove this and she could not disprove it, another stalemate.

"I don't believe you." Tak replied flatly. Her statement hung in the air and carried so much weight that it might as well have been a physical object. Zim wasn't sure exactly how to respond to this, but as a thought occurred to him, he couldn't suppress a light chuckle. This seemed to confuse her until he elaborated this previously, unwarranted amusement.

"This is, of course, my base." Zim's elation died down when she pressed against his neck harder, causing his handheld doom cannon to bump into her. Glancing down, Tak apparently noticed his gun for the first time. Zim smiled slightly as he thought of how they must look right now. Civil Irkens… partners no less, ready to kill each other at the slightest hint of betrayal. Of course this time it had been a mistake, but when the adrenalin starts to pump, one finds that they aren't the first to back down. Now they stood gridlocked.

"Lower your gun." Tak commanded out slowly through gritted teeth as her eyes bore into his like industrial strength mining drills. He felt a slight intrusion into his mind but resisted quickly. Placing mental barriers within his head to keep her out. Once she had been successfully repelled he continued their little exchange.

"And be at your mercy? Not a chance. You first." Zim responded a lot more confidently than he felt. He had to pull a trigger; she only had to jerk her arm sideways. Despite this, he was not going to relent before her, and if it came down to it, they would both die.

As the hostel environment toned down a bit, they each began to feel the weariness from remaining locked in one position for far too long. Zim's neck began to sting and Tak's grip on his collar began to become weary. Someone had to back down and neither wanted to go first. The female looked thoughtful for a moment before offering a new situation.

"We'll go on three." Tak whispered carefully and somewhat threateningly. There would be no margin for error at a time like this, one slip, one life. Or possibly two as the situation warrants.

"One." They both told the other at the same time. Zim gripped his gun tightly and readied his other claw in case things didn't go smoothly.

"Two." Their combined voices echoed down the hall as they each wondered who would betray who. Tak tightened her grip on the knife and concentrated on her PAK legs, ready for anything Zim had to throw at her.

"Three." The deadline hit like a blow to the gut. Each paused for a moment before pulling back from the other. Their PAK legs withdrew into their backs and their weapons were pointed away. In a show of unwarranted trust, Zim shut off the Doom cannon's firing sequence and Tak withdrew the blade of her combat knife into its holster. Each noticed the other's haste to put away their weapon. They stood there like that for but a moment more, before continuing on as if nothing had happened.

Tak rounded the corner silently and was gone like a specter as Zim continued to the engineering core just as quietly. It had been an incident that neither felt the immediate need to apologize for. An accident that would most likely repeat again until one, or both, of them lay dead or fatally injured. That is, of course, if neither was willing to propose some sort of agreement that held them both in check and under control.

Tak stood outside the experimentation bay, shuffling her feet nervously outside the large door that was marked as such. Confidence, planning and cunning of all forms had completely evaporated from her in the face of this daunting task. She had felt her nerve leave little by little in the walk here but she managed to make it thus far.

Did Tak really want to go through with this? In truth, she didn't. Zim was, undeniably, her enemy and due for a slow and messy death for all the pain and suffering he had caused not only her, but the entire Irken race. So much pain and suffering all caused by one being… be it in this world or the next, she would get her vengeance.

He had caused _two_ blackouts that had lasted several _years_ on Irk, before he was even above ground. He was also responsible for the death of _two_ tallest. One of which was one of the best leaders in the history of Irken Society. And finally, when given a simple task; stay in this circle, he destroyed half their civilization. Tak listed only a few of the major crimes in her head as the minor details went on infinitely.

But all of this would get in the way of progress and general productivity. Zim was an idiot, he did terrible things, and he would pay, but only after she had drained him of every last ounce of usefulness he owned. Despite her personality, programming and better judgment, something had to be done about the rising tension building up within the base.

Their system was working out perfectly so far, the only problem was distrust. She could sense it from Zim and know that she had it herself. They each were going day to day; working only the minimum amount for each task so they could reserve their strength in case the other betrayed them. This was unacceptable for progress. They needed to get some real work done or they both would just get stuck here not ruling the earth.

The tension in the base had finally come to a head this morning and only would get worse if Tak didn't do something. How long before they had to divide the base up or he forced her to leave? Then she would have to get help from… the Dib. He was the only other one with technology even close to the Irken standard and she was not about to stoop that low. No, something had to be done to correct the current situation. Now.

Steeling herself and a small amount of courage she seemed to have acquired from that somewhat meaningful conclusion, Tak shoved the door open. It seems, however, that she did this a little too forcefully, causing the doors to slam into the walls on either side of the door frame. The eco was loud and long as it reverberated throughout the room. Reminding the base's two current inhabitants of the loud bang of tribal war drums. This cannon roar caused the female to cringe in embarrassment for but a moment.

Recovering from this oddly humiliating blunder in half a second, Tak strode purposefully to the other side of the room. On either side of her, there were shelves and shelves of half completed machines and experiments. Some were alive and watching silently from their cold glass tubes. At the end of the room, there was a tall chair, obviously not meant for someone of her or Zim's height, in front of an enormous monitor.

Tak's footsteps rebounded around the room ominously announcing her arrival if anyone did not notice the door. She stopped walking ten feet from the chair and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. This was it, no turning back. No one simply barges into a room, marches up to someone else dramaticaly and then walks out without a word. She would only make this worse if she left now.

"Zim." She spoke carefully and yet quietly. Tak's voice sounded oddly foreign to her with its newfound commandingly-submissive tone. She thought back to when they each found purpose in taking over the earth to gather her thoughts. They need that attitude back.

"Yes Tak?" Zim slowly turned the chair to face her. He was sitting at an angle with his head propped up on a fist that signaled what could be a lack of interest in what she had to say. His voice was somewhat harsh and agitated. Perhaps he was still angry about their little 'misunderstanding' earlier? What could have possibly possessed her to pull a knife on him? How could she earn his trust to betray him later, now that she showed her hand?

Tak looked up from her feet and into Zim's eyes. Accusing and angry, they burned a ruby red as he looked at her more properly, leaning back and placing his index claws together in a sign of contempt. There was also, despite the fact it was buried deeply, a flicker of admiration in his eyes. For whatever reason, he respected her. How could she betray that?

"I call for a truce." Tak extended her hand to him. Zim looked at it with surprise, lining his face, what underlying cause could this have? Would she risk her eternal honor in the eyes of their people just for a little grudge? If he accepted, they could not break it until a set time. Just like earlier that day the two simply sat there, thinking carefully while starring each other down, willing the other to make the next move. The seconds ticked by until Zim finally made his decision.

**Okay, I know. Going back into other chapters is not good. I probably shouldn't do it. But this was an exception as there was too much of a time lapse between them getting together as Partners and then School. Trust must be earned and it isn't easy. Some parts of this were worthless; however, I at least liked how the first part turned out. This may not be totally connected to the other chapters but I'll see if I can't fix that. Yeah... found a relapse. Gonna fix it.**

**As it turns out. I am going to wait and see what kind of reception this gets before I tear apart an entire chapter to fit this in. Let me know what you guys think so I can either trash it, or work it in somehow.**


	5. The New Mission

Dib sat in his classroom. No one was here yet... but that was not a surprise as he was always the first one in class. Everyone else was talking with their friends in the hallways or franticly finishing up projects but no… he was content to wait for the bell. Some days he would wait for some time as everyone was late for one reason or another, only Ms. Bitters hiding somewhere in the shadows to keep him jumpy.

Abruptly, someone threw open the door. Dib glanced up from the desk then back down, not truly registering what he saw. It was a bit early for the other kids to come in, but it wouldn't be an unwanted intrusion as now the teacher would have to divert attention away from him. The funny thing was he could have sworn one of them was familiar... Suddenly his head shot up to be greeted by Zim and Tak's smile as they sat down in their seats.

Dib's jaw hit the floor just in time for everyone to come rushing into the classroom and start making fun of him. He took no notice as everyone sat down and started talking, for his eyes were locked on Zim. He looked… different... more human. No more green skin, it was very pale and had a few freckles on the arms, he had ears and his hair was less of a wig all along with a bit more normal clothes. Tak noticed his starring and smiled back evilly.

"Tak and Zim. You both have been missing for the past few days. Where were you?" Ms. Bitters shouted as she appeared from her desk's shadow. No one even bothered wondering how she got past all of them without alerting someone. It was well known by now that she was… something else.

"You don't care." Tak said with a bored expression on her face. She would have tried to use mind control but Ms. Bitters was so depressing she became immune. Such a pity, she could have been useful against the Dib worm.

"Your right… I don't." Miss bitters hissed as she slithered over to her desk. All the while Dib could not take his eyes of the kid… alien, he corrected himself disdainfully reminding his own brain that the kid was in fact Zim in disguise.

Dib began to get a sinking feeling in his stomach. Ms. Bitters got lost in another depressing speech about global warming and the uncertain future that made most want to end it all right there. The minuets dragged on as Dib stared. He slowly got out of his seat and walked up to Zim's desk. The atrocity could not stand. As long as he was different that gave Dib an edge to sway the others to his side.

"Okay. Someone tell me that they noticed Zim looks different." He pleaded the rest of the class. Everyone looked at him with blank faces.

"Who's Zim?" Someone asked from the back of the class. Dib slapped his face before dragging his palm downward. A clam, deep and collected breath was taken before he started.

"Look he's got ears now! And his skin it's not green!" Dib shouted to the class. They looked at him uncomprehendingly. A few started to ignore him completely or glared hatefully at the annoying intrusion to their previous conversations.

"Yeah that is how most humans look Dib… Congratulations, you've figured us out." Zeta said from behind Zim who had his feet on the desk and his hands behind his head. Dib noticed his teeth were still the same... but that wasn't enough to convince anyone. Some people looked slightly convinced for him until Tak jumped into his argument, ruining everything.

"I thought he always looked normal?" She said questioningly. Everyone immediately around her started to nod their heads in agreement. Dib noticed a blue spark that shot between her eyes.

"Yes I am normal. Soo normaaal…" Zim muttered to his breath. Tak shot him an exasperated look as he dragged out the end of normal.

"Well looks like nothing has really changed over the week he was gone. Zim's still a bit freaky and Dib is still crazy." A child from the back of the room yelled out. Dib's eye twitched as he sat back down in his seat, defeated. The opportunity had passed and now they were all convinced he really was close to normal. Sitting down at his desk Dib noticed Tak scribbled something on a note that she shoved into her pocket.

At lunch the situation for Dib worsened. Both Tak and Zim skipped the lunch line and sat down at a table together with two brown paper bags. They began to eat just like everyone else and looked so normal that even Dib was confused. This couldn't be happening. There was no way his luck was that bad right? Right?

Finally he grabbed his tray of food and walked up to them. He had to find out what they were up to, it was beyond obvious that their last scheme to confuse him was a rouse. It was a good thing he hadn't bought it. He sat down across from the two aliens and dropped his head and lowered his voice.

"What are you two up to?" He asked heatedly. Zim scoffed and kept eating his sandwich. Tak looked up and greeted him with a nod. Dib was annoyed at this. Zim was unpredictable at best and unskilled at most but this was a professional attempt at blending in. This was something else.

"You have to be up to something and I want to know what it is!" Dib commanded raising his voice a little. A few around them glanced curiously at the three but quickly diverted all of their attention to Dib as he was the only one being weird.

"What could we possibly be planning?" Tak asked curtly. Zim nodded up and down enthusiastically enjoying the sandwich. Dib's eyes were bulging at this, He was used to Zim simply standing up on tables and shouting to the world his plan but this was different.

Slowly they finished their lunch in front an infuriated Dib, tossed the bags away and went outside. They were followed quickly. Tak got on the swings and started to blend in while Zim simply acted as a guard, watching Dibs every move but never straying too far from Tak.

The day dragged on for Dib as he watched them. Tak's methods were impressive and Zim was simply staying out of her way and going along for the ride, something that he would never have been capable of in the past. He was furious at the sight of them both blending in with his people. His People! The ones who wouldn't even believe him in his attempt to save them all from slavery or destruction.

Eventually a smile slowly spread across Dib's face. He had a plan, one that worked together revenge and a sense of duty. Zim would pay.

**I realize that both part one and two of Turnpoints are very short, but I had to break them up. Keeping them together with that other chapter in between was against the code. Sorry for the inconvenience.**


	6. The Partnership

The bell rang and Tak and Zim began their walk home. He was enjoying himself for once in his life. While he was depressed, Zim was simply without guidance. He had always looked up to the Tallest or someone in power to tell him what to do. He didn't have to respect them and often didn't, leading to improvising on the plans to make them 'better' which in turn caused chaos and hell for his leaders.

Tak was something different however. When she spoke he wasn't obligated to listen; he wanted to. Her advice made sense when he thought it over in his mind and eventually she had taken that leader role in his life. She had called them 'partners' while doing air quotations with her claws. Zim hadn't bothered in telling her that you were only supposed to do that when you were being sarcastic or something. The name fit their current situation so why start off on a bad foot.

Tak had told him that she would show him how a 'real' invader takes over a planet. He tried his hardest not to laugh at that but learned quickly how hard she could hit someone, it was not something he wanted to repeat. In truth, Zim had to swallow his pride time and time again in the past few weeks but it was getting easier and that was the only time she had ever hit him.

The only place Zim had put his foot down and refused to budge was with Gir. Despite the little robot's adverse affects on missions and overall day to day life he couldn't bear to see the little, normally carefree robot turned into a mindless drone… Or worse, a, crazy and uncompassionate mission stealer.

It wasn't that Zim didn't have a choice in the matter, it was just that when the tallest destroyed his old life, he took stock of his actions and realized he needed someone experienced to guide him. Zim realized under her command that he was not almighty or invincible. He started to see his own weaknesses and realized that recognizing a weakness helps you protect yourself from failure because of them.

Tak was pleased with how fast Zim was learning. At first when she said she wanted to tweak his disguise he was defensive so she explained to him very slowly that she would not change anything he didn't want her to. He reluctantly agreed when she gave him that false sense of control but she did take some of his input on some details. Now it was a hologram like hers.

Slowly but surely he began to talk more like a person as well. He would say "I am going to the lab Tak." Instead of "ZIM is going to the lab Tak beast!" Tak liked the way things were improving. There were a few moments when he was concentrating too hard or not enough that he would say "I am going to the lab. For I am Zim" but the relapses were growing farther and farther apart. As he began to think before he talked Zim now made more sense and was better at explaining plans that were previously thought to be pointless or ineffective.

It wasn't like Tak did not get anything out of the alliance/partnership. She got a large semi functional base to work in and nice company when she needed it, surprisingly Zim had a large amount of stories from his days in the academy some humiliating, others hilarious. Being an invader, you don't appreciate company until your light years away from home and surrounded by machines and strange natives.

As they walked they talked about the school day and how Dib's reaction was just as they had planned. Everyone had been even less suspicious of Zim with his new disguise and guidance. All in all everything was falling into place. In fact, both where having such a good time, they did not notice the human close by. Dib followed them from behind the cars next to the sidewalk, listening in when he could.

"You know Tak, for the first time in a while I don't exactly hate the Earth as much." Zim mused as he looked around. He had been feeling much more optimistic now that he was sure about Tak's strategies now that he could see they were working.

"Yeah. Some parts of it are nice… others are just disgusting and pointless." Tak added on the last part as she swatted at a fly that buzzed annoyingly around her head. The flies and the bees were added to their newly combined list of things-to-do.

"Okay so today were going to be training in the obstacle course while the computer does our homework for tomorrow" Tak commented as she pulled out a data pad. Zim smiled and looked at her as she put it away. This would be a great time to test his new… what was the human term... Guile, yes that was it.

"Well seeing as I built it you should be able to clear it without falling to far behind me." Tak stopped and got serious. Zim took notice of how dangerously she reacted to his playful joke and made a mental note of it for later. It could be useful.

"Is that a challenge Zim?" She asked while raising her right eyebrow. He stopped and stood as tall as he could, just barely meeting her eyes evenly. He had grown over the year he was here and explained that Earth's gravity field was less that of irks, allowing him to get as tall as her but likely no higher. Tak preferred to believe that he was a centimeter to an inch shorter than her to preserve a sense of superiority.

"It is if you want it to be." He said just as serious and challenging. Suddenly a water balloon flew down from over the car to Zim's right and hit him right in the face. He gasped and sputtered the water out or his mouth while looking around for who he assumed was Dib. It would be typical for the human to intrude on such a nice friendly competition.

Tak got a large amount of the water on her. Not recognizing what the liquid was she watched dumbfounded as the clothes began to smoke and her skin began to burn. Screaming in pain she tried to brush the water off. Only spreading it to more places. Zim quickly grabbed her hand and began to run to his house, dragging the female behind him. She had little time before it left some serious burns on her arms.

While running Zim tripped over something and fell into additional water getting Tak even more wet, causing her to shriek even more. He whipped around furiously and looked between the lamppost and building he tripped by. Right there, thin as a spider's web was a tripwire. He scowled at the shear primitive cleverness of Dib's trick. This would call for retribution in the very near future. Tak's pain brought him back to the current situation.

Tak screamed even louder as the large amounts of water seeped past her clothing and onto her skin. It burned as though one was set on fire and hurt like nothing she had ever felt before. Zim wasted no time in scooping up Tak, who was still screaming, bridal style and running home as fast as he possibly could. Just before he got into the front yard both of their disguises began to flicker and then deactivate as the water reached the small rings they each wore.

The devices weren't meant to take such environmental abuse it seemed. Zim made note of this as well. It would be a quick fix, a tweak here, some air tight seals there and then maybe a coating of synthetic polymers to slow the water's effect.

Zim burst through the front door, kicked it shut, and used a nearby tile elevator to get down to his labs. Tak at this point was just shaking from the chills Irkens get after being exposed to water. She had at some point wrapped her arms around his neck and drawn herself closer to him for some odd reason.

The elevator stopped and Zim ran out and into a nearby room. It used to be used as a storage unit before the water fights with the Dib thing. He had a tub already filled with paste from that exact morning that he dumped Tak into. A few moments after she rose to the surface, gasped and sputtered at not only the water but the sickly cream she now resided in. A part of her did not like this feeling.

"What is that stuff?" She choked out through the lingering pain and revolution at not know what she swallowed. Zim was shocked she didn't know what water was but after some speculation he remembered that she hadn't been here near as long as him.

"It's called water. The humans have it all over their planet and it falls from the sky from those clouds." Tak committed this to memory before getting out of the tub. She looked at the sticky substance she had just been bathing in. In truth, she didn't want to know… but she just had to.

"What is that?" she asked pointing a shaky finger to the tub quickly draining. Zim nodded, understanding why she might be curious about his ingenious resolution to the Dib worm's water balloons. One wasn't usually dumped into a strange sticky substance on a daily basis.

"A long time ago the Dib and I were locked in an epic battle. I learned that water burns us because our skin reacts with it; the reaction causes extreme heat and steam." He pointed to the tub and got on to the more important explanation.

"This can cover our body and block all water that gets to us. It absorbs anything already on the skin." Tak nodded as she wiped the remaining paste off of her clothing. She deactivated her hologram and pulled some of the paste from her antenna. Already it was starting to dry. The feeling was awkward but not uncomfortable per say.

Once the original feelings of awkwardness passed Tak looked around for her partner. Zim was standing by the door to the lab waiting patiently. She smiled to him appreciatively, but at the same time grudgingly, as he held open the door for her.

"Thank you Zim." She said as she passed. Zim stopped and looked at her with a bewildered look crossing his face. A thank you? From Tak, for just holding the door? Nervousness settled in as he contemplated where this was coming from, perhaps she was testing him somehow? The safest rout in his eyes was to play dumb.

"Oh it's nothing I just opened the door on reflex." She stopped him in mid sentence with one claw raised up in a motion of silence. Zim smiled inwardly, his ploy had worked.

"Thank you for helping me back there. Not too many people in the Irken military would have done that for me." Zim nodded once he understood completely. In the army it was remember your fallen comrades but spare not a moment of remorse for they were inferior.

"Tak, were partners now. We look out for each other." Zim replied seriously. This was a matter of honor for him. Sure underlings could be disposed of at a moment's notice, but when you are equal to someone else, they deserve the same respect you give yourself. Tak nodded as they walked to the training wing.

"My skin still hurts a bit…" Tak mused for no reason in particular. Zim chuckled to himself. He remembered the past result of a challenge and decided to check his new theory.

"It will for a little while. But don't think I'm going easy on you in the course just because of that." Tak caught the poorly hidden under meanings of his statement and in his voice.

"In your dreams Zim!" Tak yelled as she dashed ahead of him. As he chased after her Zim thought about how easily he had distracted her from her pain with a challenge. He couldn't believe it worked so well.

A plasma bolt shot dangerously close to Zim's face. He jumped back in surprise before running past the stationary turret. It targeted him and fired several times. He jumped over one then activated his PAK's spider legs to get out of range of the next. He got to cover of the next barricade before the third was even in the air.

Zim was panting as he thought of Tak and how far ahead of her he must be. She had taken the left corridor and he had taken the right. Zim knew he had designed the course to be a lot harder on the left side. He remembered because he was right handed… or was it the other way around. After regaining his breath Zim launched out from beneath the cover and rolled behind the next.

This continued for about two more minutes before he turned a corner to the finish line. Banners of victory and new words of praise swarmed his head at the thought of beating her. One glance to the corner of the room and all was lost. There sat Tak who was reading a data pad. Zim scoffed as she stood up with her hands on her hips.

"Say it." She told him. Zim shook his head while answering defiantly.

"No." She smiled even wider. Tak grabbed one of his antennas roughly, causing him to wince in pain. He could not break after such a defeat. Zim breathed carefully to alleviate some of the pain, but it seemed Tak had other plans.

"Say it Zim!" Tak all but ordered him to admit the unthinkable He clenched his teeth together as she shook his antenna a bit.

"The almighty Tak has bested the inferiorly slow Zim…" She nodded contently and relaxed her grip on his antenna. Zim rubbed it for a moment and scowled before they both broke out in laughter. Tak supported herself on Zim as they gasped for breath from the quick outburst.

"Well that was fun." Zim said cheerfully as they exited. He walked a bit quicker than his companion in hopes that were dashed in but a minute.

"Hey wait a minute hold the phone, were not done here!" Tak chuckled as Zim winced. He had hoped she had forgotten about that last little bit of the competition.

"Alright fine what do you want?" Zim asked as he resigned himself to cleaning or slave duty. Tak looked thoughtful for a moment before answering.

"I want to go to the beach." She said confidently as Zim shrugged. He had agreed no complaining no matter what. If she wanted to go to the beach then he would take her there.

"You know the beach is right next to water right?" Tak nodded and continued to the elevator. Zim didn't prod anymore and it went unspoken that they would bathe in paste.

**Well... yes. Despite the fact that I have finished this story years ago, some major revising is needed. Back then I was all worshiping the show and obsessive about it and as such I cared little about mistakes so long as I got the emotional release. Now things are very different. So, as such I am still open for ideas and want your input on the matter. As for the PAK and Irken and it's correct spelling, I searched the document several times and did not find where I was spelling it PAC or Irkan. I put it in caps because its and acronym for something, we just don't know what it is. I had an entire rant on my profile about the Irkan thing that I am absolutly sure now that none of you read, now. In short; I know. Everyone writing these stories should know.**

**In this particular chapter I previously went with the basic Idea of the two bonding as Dib unknowingly helps them along with it. The human will be in more chapters as soon as I feel like it. Notice this is not a Zim and Dib fanfic and so he will not be in as much as the two mentioned. Thanks to all reviewers and commenter's, you guys keep me smiling on overcast, dead end days like today. And sorry for the long author comment.**


	7. Training Day

Zim slept peacefully in the regeneration chamber. He thought about nothing, planned for nothing, simply existing, simply living. He didn't care about the mission he hadn't been assigned, he didn't care about the invader status he hadn't ever obtained. He didn't even care about the unsteady truce between him and Tak. His mind was regaled with the basic task of a simple existence. He was Happy.

While it was not what he was doing that made him happy, it was the simplicity of it all. In fact, Zim wasn't thinking of or doing anything within his dreams. He was simply riding the emotional bliss that eluded him at all times during his waking hours. While it would not last and would quickly fade back to the farthest reaches of his mind upon waking, he didn't trouble himself with that; all that mattered was the now.

That was of course until he felt something; a twitch. Normally this would not bother him, but it was all too familiar that simple muscle spasm. Before any human had time to blink, Zim was ripped from his dreams and thrown back into his cold, previously motionless body. The cables connecting to his PAK and head, immediately disconnected, offering no time for the being once attached to them to obtain his balance and prepare to land.

Zim slammed into the floor, hard. His eyes streamed with tears not only from the pain of being dropped five feet to a cold and unforgiving floor, but because of something else. He felt as if he had lost something for the time being, something important. This had been a constant waking feeling for him for so long he could no longer remember when it started. Annoying as it was that he could not recall what his own dreams were, the Irken dismissed the futile thoughts from his mind.

Zim lay there on the floor for a moment longer, sensing that someone else was in the room, watching him. When it seemed that they were waiting for him the Irken rolled over with a growl. When the tears still lingering from the initial pain cleared from his eyes he was finally able to see the rest of the room, and his rude awakener. Expecting Gir, he was somewhat surprised to see his partner standing in front of him.

Tak towered over Zim with her hands on her hips, glaring down at him as if he had just challenged her honor in the presence of the Tallest. Her face indicated she was angry or determined, but seeing as she had awoken him quite abruptly, he assumed that she was angry. Blinking slowly she continued to glare as if waiting for him to apologize for something he had no idea he had done. Perhaps Gir had gotten into her personal storage chambers once again? Or he himself had forgotten an experiment that needed monitoring. Tak answered his questions before he could even voice them.

"Zim? What day is it?" Tak asked in a sweet tone. Even in his dazed and tired state, Zim knew not to buy into Tak's sugar sweet voice, her eyes were still cold as ice and harder any metal he was capable of comparing them to. All of the sudden, it came to him, like a punch in the face, the obvious answer was there, in what she was wearing. Training Day had come for him at last.

"Its Training Day… But can't it wait a few hours?" Zim breathed out despite the knowledge that it couldn't, making no move to get up or properly apologize for the painfully obvious fact that he had slept in. Tak seemed annoyed at this, even more so than she usually would be, he paid her no mind and lay where he was, clinging to small details of his dream.

Zim was in the middle of rubbing his temples to clear a headache that was already clouding his mind when Tak grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him up into the air. Lifted off balance, the Irken's mind shifted into the shroud of panic, causing him to lash out wildly, as if he were under attack from a feral animal. Tak used her other hand to grab his left wrist, twisting it behind his back, earning a satisfying yelp of pain and a cease to Zim's blind struggles.

"Shhh shh shhh" She cooed to him quietly, as if he were a frightened Smeet who could scarcely comprehend fear. A muscle reflex in this throat; he was about to yell or command his base, in what he thought was an attack on his wellbeing. She shifted her right hand from his shirt to his mouth, covering it and silencing all noise he was about to make. Once Zim's struggles ceased and she had his total and undivided attention, she continued.

"Let this be a lesson Zim... You have neglected your training; It's time to resume your preparation." Tak whispered softly to Zim, stroking his head, once again as if he were an ignorant pet who knew no better. Deciding that the situation was 'hopeless' Zim relaxed and let his arms go limp with one sullen vow that revenge would be his in due time. Realizing his submission, Tak's grip loosened, allowing him to duck under her arms and away from his teacher, who now wore a rather creepy smile.

"Come." She motioned for the door and set off with a brisk pace. Zim followed, reluctantly, feeling as though his pride had been stabbed directly. Her path took several twists and turns but stayed in a semi-consistent line in connection with the training arena. Finally, they came upon it the large competitor entrance doors.

Having built the arena himself, Zim knew quite a bit about it. The inside was completely adaptable as the inner 'shell' of the room was composed of moldable Vortian liquid substance. It could harden to from synthetic rocks, drift apart and become loose to become mud or even water and imitate almost every other known substance. All situations were possible.

The one he built was much better than the base's original as it had originally been a holographic chamber. Holograms were stupid, easy to identify, impossible to interact with because of basic programming, his training session with Gir before the 'incident' at the library had been proof of that. It had previously been useless, now it was a marvel of technology.

"Weapons training, your suits already prepped." Without another word Tak walked up to the doors and entered the arena, closing them behind herself and leaving Zim in the armory.

He sighed while looking around at the primitive holographic blades and low charge laser and plasma weapons along with several other sets of armor and equipment lining the walls. The one aspect of the chamber he hadn't been able to fix was the equipment. Technology could not replace the reliability of the current training tools. It had simply been a fact he had to accept.

The armor, though useless in real combat, synthesized a field around the wearer that blocked certain frequencies, while the weapons fired not live plasma or laser rounds, but frequencies that were similar enough to fool most any viewer into believing they were, creating the same force of impact but not the deadly aftermath. The swords and knifes did not have blades, but instead, were projectors for a thin and moldable metal as to ensure the safety of all competitors and trainees.

The 'armor' consisted of a thinly plated, full body suit that was covered in tiny, seemingly stretched out rectangles with small circles in the center, complete with a hole in the back for any PAK wearing organisms. Zim slipped on the loose fitting material and waited. In a moment, it synchronized with his PAK and constricted around his limbs and torso, creating a thin and 'skin tight' barrier between his regular outfit and the outside. The small circles then began to glow a menacing red, indicating to any viewer, that he was of red team.

Zim shook slightly as he reached for a nearby helmet. He would not want to admit it, but he was somewhat apprehensive about a one on one battle with Tak. He knew from past experience that she did not fight by rules, claiming that, on the battlefield, it didn't matter. Deep down he knew she was right, but it did nothing to make him feel any more justified in fighting dirty. She had given him many rules not to follow and each one seemed to be cheating the system, normally he wouldn't care but the academy had instilled within him that an honorable victory was a good victory. It seems they were wrong.

Zim slid the well fitting helmet on easily, waiting for it to synchronize to his PAK as well. With a light beep and a slow hum, the visor descended obstructing his vision until it became transparent. The suit lining around his neck snaked up to meet the helmet, connecting easily and filtering his In-Suit-Environment. This created an air tight seal for realistic anti-gravity situations without a breathable battle field. Tak had already regulated the settings and set the weight capacity to full gear so there was no need to reset them.

Crossing the large path to the enormous arena doors to the other side of the room, Zim searched for a weapon. The rows and rows of guns swords and knifes were very intimidating, what would help him the most in as many situations as it could. He settled on a basic but versatile combat knife, a duffle-bag of various explosives and a common model of the medium range LZ repeater. As an afterthought, he snagged a small pistol to be hidden just under his PAK.

Zim left the weapons side of the room to stand in front of the arena doors. Explosives slung over his shoulder, knife sheathed at his side, and rifle drawn- Zim pushed open the doors to be met with a bright light. Once it cleared, the Irken found himself inside of a large wasteland. It reminded him of a movie Gir had forced him to watch once, it had been about the Earth after a nuclear war. Indeed he recognized several rusted cars piled atop each other or resting precariously on their sides. Cleverly disguised obstacles. Surrounding the battle zone was a concrete wall with barbed wire fencing atop, a cleverly disguised boundary zone.

Once done looking around, Zim's eyes settled on the exact opposite side of the room, past a few broken down buildings and car barriers, on Tak. She stood tall and proud, despite her stature, and carried an air of dangerous dignity. In her hands were two long curved blades that reminded him much of an earth weapon called a saber and a medium range rifle with scope attached slung over her shoulder. Her armor was colored her typical neon purple that signaled her team. Zim could see her face as she looked into his eyes, there was no emotion, only knowledge and determination. Zim stared back at her, waiting for the first move.

"What are you doing?" Tak asked over the built in communications link in their helmets, seemingly angry and perplexed at the same time. Zim was confused, what did he do wrong? The battle had barely even started and he had already screwed up? Before he could even ask, she started the lesson.

"First rule of battle, never wait until you opponent is ready." Tak started while putting her wicked looking blades. She held up one finger to emphasize what she had just said.

"Step two-" Tak reached behind her pack and pulled out her medium range rifle, aimed, and shot Zim in only two seconds, not enough time for him to even think. "-never monologue." She finished as he flew back into the doors he had just walked through. Slamming into them, the breath was driven from his lungs. The shot stung, but he got up to his feet with a growl of determination before returning to his position before. Tak remained where she was, indulging herself in her silent observations.

Without warning, Zim set his rifle on full auto and fired upon her, Tak had been anticipating this and lunged to the left, landing her dive with a roll and ending it with a crouch. From her position on the ground, she began to return fire upon Zim with deadly accuracy, forcing him to retreat to the right behind a rusty car. Tak stood and began to make her way to him, firing the entire time to keep him pinned in one place.

Zim, crouched behind the car, glanced around the edge just long enough to see that she was approaching from his right. Running out would be futile, she would expect it, though he had to move cover soon, or risk getting cornered. Snagging a rock up from the ground, he positioned himself carefully. With a flick of his wrist, the rock soared left and cracked against metal. Tak's head whipped to the right as she expected Zim over there, she was not prepared when he dashed out from her left to another piece of cover farther away.

As he ran, Zim dropped two small stun grenades behind himself. Giving them just enough spin to get where they needed to go without drawing too much attention. Ducking beside a bus, he waited, ready to run. A few seconds later the gunfire stopped and two explosions could be heard, at this signal, Zim quickly turned the corner of the large yellow vehicle and swept the area for Tak. She was, however, nowhere to be found.

Confused, Zim lowered his rifle, where could she possibly have gone in such a short amount of time? A small creaking noise above him immediately drew his attention upwards. There, poised and ready to pounce, was Tak. Blades drawn and face blank, she had her arms spread out for balance she tipped forward and landed next to him, having both her blades come down towards his head fast. On reflex, Zim brought his rifle up to block. The blades struck the condensed metal and stopped immediately giving him time to retaliate.

Tak's arms were still jarred from the sudden stop, so she was unable to properly defend herself from the boot that slammed into her stomach. She fell backwards, dropping one blade before rolling backwards to her feet. By this time, Zim had picked up her fallen blade and held it in his left hand defensively across his chest. He would have continued using his rifle as he was not very trained in swords, but the ammo capacity had almost been exhausted and it would be useless at such close range.

Tak twirled her weapon like a baton before lunging with the blade extended for a gut stab which Zim was barely able to redirect to the left, throwing her off balance with her own momentum. Using this to her advantage, Tak regained her footing behind him and sidestepped to the right in order to stay behind him when he turned to face where he thought she was. Sensing her behind him, Zim dropped a small grenade at his feet before leaping away. Tak, unable to react in time was knocked to the ground by the blast.

Pressing his advantage, Zim made his way to her prone form and placed his blade at her chest, a triumphant smile plastered on his face. She coughed once before holding out her hand to his, a sign of truce, willing to end the session, Zim reached to grasp her hand. Half crouching, he was unprepared for Tak's sweeping leg that swiped his feet from under him and throwing him to the ground. Tak drew her rifle and had it pointed, point blank at his chest by the time he had stood up.

"Are you kidding me Zim? The fight isn't over until your opponent is dead." Tak started disgustedly, as if he should have known she would not be above using his own pride against him.. Zim tensed, he had lost. Again.

"That was pathetic!" She shouted before holding the rifle more rigid at his chest, ready to fire and claim victory. Overflowing with rebelliousness, Zim tore the rifle from her grip, turned it and fired upon her chest, knocking her to the ground, stunned, defeated. Just as stunned as she was, Zim stood there for but a moment, before crouching in front of her.

"Never monologue." He whispered with gritted teeth. Much to his annoyance, Tak smiled.

"Good your learning." Brushing his hand aside, she retrieved her weapons and returned to the other side of the arena. Zim was baffled, she couldn't be serious, and she had to be as tired as he was. Her next words dashed his hopes and reinstated the battle.

"Again." She called out before dashing forward, blades extended, ready for the kill.

**Hello people of fanfiction. This will be my newest chapter of The Horrible Startening as soon as it is approved and the original story modified to have it fit. My 'superiors' believe that I have been neglecting this story so if I have been, I apologize. As a quick reminder, I love reviews (good and bad) and reward them with improvements in the story. Please help a fellow writer.**

**Here is another block that will separate Zim's acceptance of Tak's rule and the beginning of school as it is still a bit unrealistic. Terribly sorry for the delay in all and any of my updates for the Fault, but for those who care, I just finished getting the ending exactly the way I want it. So yes it will be done. Thanks once again to all who read, even more thanks to reviewers, no pressure though.**


	8. The Beach

An hour passed and Zim stood outside of his Voot cruiser, that lay dormant out front of the house. He had used one of Tak's holographic images to disguise it as a car so they wouldn't be noticed along the freeway. He stood in his new disguise and looked around. Despite his decreased hatred for earth it didn't extend to the point he liked it or the humans. The planet he learned to tolerate to a degree.

Zim began to wonder what Tak thought of it but then questioned why his mind wandered to her. He looked back at the house and at the roof. Its color kind of reminded him of- He slapped himself. Something was wrong; he couldn't keep his mind off of her. Forcing his mind to the Dib and other things he loathed to the very core. In but a second Zim began to feel that deadening numbness spread through his body from the PAK that rested comfortably on his back. In a moment, he was as composed as any other drone.

It was only appropriate that Tak walked out of the house at that particular moment in her regular disguise. He opened the cockpit for her and they drove off casually down the street. Tak sat in the cramped space between the back of his ship and the front. The entire voot was only just large enough to for both of them… and Gir, who constantly ran to opposite sides of the windows and read the billboards aloud before running back to the other side, as if something had changed in the two seconds he was gone.

An hour passed, they were halfway there and Zim could not get his mind off of Tak. Something was off, normally thinking about the Dib set him into a very neutral and deadened outlook but now he was distracted with the upcoming plans and Tak's possible betrayal. _Maybe she poisoned me or something… nahh Tak would never do that, were-_

"Are we There yet?" Gir asked loudly for what felt like the hundredth time. Zim's eye twitched in almost rage. He should be used to it now but for some reason that voice just cut through all thought. Tak had silenced the robot for the first part of the trip but unfortunately she had fallen asleep about ten minutes ago. Gir had turned his need to disturbed to the alien driving.

"No G-" He managed to say before he was interrupted again.

"How bout now?" Again with the eye. Zim eyed a large pole sticking out of the ground with cables attached from it's top to the ground. One wrong turn and they would all die. He was kidding even himself with that thought, there was no way a human pole could stop him or his voot. He didn't even bother to answer, instead He looked outside. There was no one around, not a single human with blind eyes or deaf ears to see or hear them.

Zim quickly deactivated his ship's cloaking and launched off to the beach at full speed. Tak was shaken awake for a moment before Zim looked back and shrugged at her letting her know he knew what he was doing. Somewhat comforted in knowing he wasn't going to blow their cover because of impatience she looked out the window at the approaching waves… there was so much of that water.

Finally they landed. Zim opened the canopy and jumped onto the deserted beach out of disguise. He looked around carefully before extending his arms up to the sky in a typical victory pose. He got that all too familiar glint in his eye that set one on edge because of the pure unpredictable violence and destruction that everyone knew he could cause.

"Yes! I have found the Beach! For I am Z-" Tak cleared her throat and Zim lowered his arms embarrassed. She pulled a long lawn-chair out of the voot's storage container and opened it up. As she lay down she deactivated her disguise.

Zim walked over to her with a raised eyebrow, he was confused at how she could be so carefree in the enemy public gathering places. Tak responded with the same look and realized that he was far from the relaxed state of mind.

"Zim why don't you sit down for a bit, take deep breaths." He looked to the sand then the water and finally back at her with complete confusion, bordering alarm. If he couldn't relax he would bother her and make this trip useless and just filler for another day. Unacceptable, as they did little anymore but work to avoid relapsing back into depression, productive but tiring.

"But what if one of the humans sneaks up on me while-" Tak cut him off before he could work himself up on something irrelevant and baseless. The ship was cloaking the current area and no human could take on two Irken invaders with a fully equipped SIR unit, even as defective as Gir. No, they were safe.

"I'll be keeping an eye on things Zim don't worry." Slowly Zim sat down about ten feet in front of her. He looked out at the waves and found them taunting. They swished back and forth, slowly eroding away the human beach. The golden substance that did not feel very safe or stable beneath his feet. Zim began to regret not bringing a foldout chair such as Tak's.

Turning his attention to the sand he began to rub the semi wet substance between his fingers. Not very valuable, crumbled rock, bone and shell held together by trace amounts of dirt and water. Surprisingly, the golden yellow substance was not tainted with human pollution… odd as the rest of the planet seemed to be infested with it.

Slowly Zim picked up a clump of it and squeezed it in his hand. To his surprise the water seeped out and he was left with a more stable form of the matter. He picked up a stick and cut of a small cube out of the sand in his hand. It was slightly bent and lopsided but there was something familiar about it.

As Tak watched Zim set the cube down on the ground and extended a mechanical leg. He grabbed more of the sand and compressed it same as before. This time however he used the tip of his PAK's needle like legs to carve away some of it. Bit by bit it became a perfect triangle that he set on top of the square. Again it looked familiar but was lacking... something.

He picked up the stick he had seen from before and extended one more leg. He handed it up to the machinery and it began to carve away at it. The other stabbed a leaf and made a sort of bowl out of it. They handed the two things to Zim who stabbed the leaf with the newly smooth but bent stick and stuck the new thing on top of the triangle.

Tak shifted her position in the chair to look around him at what he was doing and saw what looked kind of… like his house. After about thirty minutes Zim had created his entire neighborhood. He sat down and examined it. It looked exactly like what it really looked like… only smaller and without color that differed from yellow, his base could do better but whatever made him happy.

Tak smiled as she saw Zim's tense muscles relax slowly until he was just sitting and grinning for whatever reason. He scanned the area in front of them and seemed to get an idea. Realizing that he had found the perfect way to simply let go for a bit, she did the same. Laying out completely, Tak propped her feet up and leaned back so she was comfortable but still able to 'keep an eye on things' as she had told he henchman.

Zim walked off down the beach for about twenty feet before he and all of his PAK's spider legs began to pile sand up until it was a little larger than he was. Then he simply stared. Tak watched as his PAK went to work carving away at the wet sand. It started at the top and worked up until the mound of sand looked like two people standing on a half sphere with their hands on their hips. Interesting… but time consuming.

Tak decided to lean back and close her eyes for a bit. She looked up at the sky and noted that the sun would be setting in about two hours. She didn't mind however, as she now had the rest of her life to waste away on this rock. Her smile faded at that. The rest of her life was a long time to be anywhere. That could go on to eternity if she cloned herself and transferred her conciseness and memories to that clone.

A slight frown at the uncertain future was all that it took for Tak to get up to the Voot. Popping open the storage, she snagged one of Zim's fizzy pops, he wouldn't miss one right? Taking a sip and Tak smiled before making her way back to the chair. She set the drink to the sand and pulled a data tablet out and set it to her bookmarked story. The frown had disappeared and everything was falling into place.

An hour later Zim sighed contently, it was obvious he was satisfied with his work. There, where the pile of sand had been was of two familiar Irkens standing over a crude impression of Earth. The person looked triumphant and happy as they had a satisfied grin on their face. She believed it to be Zim standing on the Earth. Something was a bit off with the antennas but who would be able to make that perfect out of sand?

Getting up Tak decided to take a closer look. She sneaked up behind Zim quickly with sweeping strides that cut the distance in about three seconds. Looking closely from over his shoulder she was surprised to find that it was not he on the Earth, Zim had made a life size, close to exact replica of her. She was impressed, not only that he was capable of such creation but that it was of her.

Zim turned around, and jumped back when he saw her standing there. He gasped but didn't have any time to say anything even close to an explanation before Gir crashed through his sculpture. He turned back and looked at the destroyed remains of his work as the tiny robot danced on the sand. Rather than being angry, he seemed more relieved, though it was quickly hidden or suppressed.

Finally he shrugged to her and wandered back to the tiny houses he had made. Tak watched him go and Gir stopped dancing. She was shocked at his reaction of surprise and embarrassment but did not have time to dwell on this thought as the SIR unit addressed her in a very immature and childish manner.

"Master liiiikkeess you!" Gir said almost mockingly. Tak scoffed for a moment, before considering the possibility. He did take the time to make an accurate statue of her, and he WAS defective and capable of feeling that for things. He also let her in his house and… NO it wasn't possible, it couldn't be. They were partners against the world and that was it, also Zim was Irken, Defective or not; they don't feel. In a moment Tak was undeniably confident it this fact.

"No Gir. He doesn't. We are just working together." Tak sounded like she was trying to assure herself rather than the Sir unit, much to her annoyance. It was true to her at least, they were only working together, and in no time flat the earth would be theirs to do with as they will.

"Oke doke." Gir called to her as he ran back to whatever he was doing. Tak remained standing with her arms crossed looking at Zim. It was sweet of him to make something like that. Perhaps he was a person beneath all that ignorence… Tak dismissed the thought so forcefully that a headache took its place. She was annoyed at this but took her time getting back to the chair that still lay sprawled out on the sand.

She sat down and looked at Zim. He sat cross legged looking at his neighborhood with a solemn look on his face. He whispered something that Tak wasn't quite able to hear. It Started with F and ended with er… could he be running a fever? Or perhaps he needed a feather to finish the elaborate neighborhood he had created?

He repeated the words a bit louder this time. Tak realized that he was stating Forever. It would in fact be a long time but hey, maybe it isn't so bad, but she was only here for about four thousand earth rotations… yeah… not so bad. As she praised herself for piecing together that insignificant word puzzle Zim built a few more sand buildings. Gir was off… mimicking Zim by building a large bubbly object that vaguely resembled the Massive.

Zim looked up and noticed Gir's sculpture. He frowned slightly. Tak watched with mild interest as Zim walked up to the robot and talked to him. Gir looked back at his sculpture and then at the ocean, Zim smiled cynically as his minion ran out into the sea to return with a fish. As Zim watched Gir beat the Massive to little pieces with the aquatic animal and then toss the alarmed and confused beast back to the water.

Zim seemed satisfied as he walked away, Leaving Gir to dance on the tallest's prized warship. Tak chuckled to herself at the thought of the Irken flagship getting bested by Gir and his mighty fish. Zim seemed just as amused with the idea as he smiled a bit to himself despite the looming eternity of his banishment.

"What was that all about?" Tak asked as she once more relaxed and closed her eyes to enjoy the cool breeze coming in with the surf. Zim sat down next to her chair and smirked to himself before answering.

"I didn't want Gir making the Massive so I told him that he could best the tallest if he wanted to with anything on earth." Zim said quietly as Tak chuckled. She found it amusing that Gir's weapon of choice against a warship was an earth fish. Despite all the weaponry he held within his tiny little body… a fish was chosen.

Zim looked over at the robot that was now dashing around the beach with a pink rubber pig in his hand pretending it was some sort of plane. Though he would never say it, Zim admired the robots ability to be happy anywhere and at any time. It was a quality he himself and almost every other Irken lacked. They couldn't just sit down and be happy with what they had; no, they had to make things better for themselves by taking from others. Being Irken himself, Zim saw nothing wrong with that.

The sun started to dip below the ocean line and Zim gasped, it was like nothing he had ever seen before. He stood up quickly and shook Tak.

"Tak! Get up you have to see this!" despite being slightly annoyed that her nap was interrupted she opened her eyes. The sun reflected against the waves perfectly, making it look like instead of deadly water, that the entire ocean was filled with melted gold. It was framed with red clouds that made it a very warm contrast that was surrounded by the cool blue of the approaching night.

"It- It's beautiful." The both stuttered at the same time. Tak looked at Zim. She noticed that the sun casted his eyes into more of a blood red than a pinkish red. The sun reflected in them looked like a burning wasteland that Zim had destroyed. He was certainly someone who she respected for lasting so long on earth… a muscle spasm in her arm. The Irken reviewed her last thoughts and was shocked to find that she did respect Zim, but she still could not forgive him.

Tak shook herself of these thoughts and looked back at the sun. She couldn't get it back into her head that Zim was nothing to her still. A means to an end, an expendable henchman. He was defiantly not someone she admired or appreciated… Taks thoughts escaped her as she was drawn back into the sun and waves. Zim looked away from the special appearance of the sun after a few moments and back at her.

"Tak? Helloooo Tak? Are you okay?" He asked while waving a hand in front of her face. It was weird how she just looked at it unfalteringly. Like the time he burnt his eyes while trying to get home with Gir… She snapped out of it all of the sudden like a desert trance.

"Uh Ya I'm fine. The heat must be getting to me." Zim nodded with a concerned look on his face. Odd that he would be concerned for her. She wouldn't have cared.

"I'll go prep the voot. Come on Gir lets go home." Tak slowly stood up and looked back at the sun.

"It has to be the heat." She muttered to herself as she walked back to Zim's ship. A moment later they left the relaxing and clean beach in the direction of the filthy and polluted city. Relaxation was over, work was about to resume.

**Hello my readers. It had been a while and for that I am sorry. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it. Now as I stated before; I wrote this a few years ago and was all into the super-fluff back then. Now I had to change it but even then it has hints of romance to it yes? I don't want that. This was to be bonding friend wise and then slowly… slowly slide into romance if it is to remain logical.**

**By reader request I tried to get more Gir out there. I'm not sure how I did, if its in character or if the emotional profile is correct. If it is, please let me know so I know to keep it that way, if it isn't I still want you to tell me so I know what to change. Also, I'm taking ideas for bonding between Tak and Zim, I do NOT write ANY sex scenes EVER, and this is not subject to change. To answer a question Dib will be in a short chapter later.**


	9. Competition and Revivals

GIr ran down the halls of Zim's base. He was screaming happily as he opened the door to the supply basement. He ran down row after row of boxes before coming up upon a large box labeled S-I-R Spare Parts. Gir squealed in happiness as he lifted the entire box up as if it were nothing but a Styrofoam prop and running out the way he came.

He ran and he ran and he ran before finding a familiar vent. Gir grinned insanely and set the box down and hopped in. He then popped out and grabbed the box. Gir growled in his vain attempt to pull the crate into the vent perhaps on eighth of its size. There was a loud grinding noise and a few sparks that few away from the box as it was gnashed against the metal wall.

Finally Gir hopped out of another vent and looked back at the box. It was now imbedded in the side of the base as he had pulled so hard it dented the wall, this however did not concern him. The little robot decided that he could go get some tacos and then see if he could get it in then. Zim walked by just as his servant ran past him.

"Gir what are you…" Zim stopped when he saw the box. He sighed and face palmed. Gir had dented another wall. Indeed it had not been the first time and would undoubtedly not be the last with that bot's sense of prioritizing. It would be a quick fix with Irken technology but it was an annoyance all the same.

"Computer." Zim called out to the base, which in turn beeped as a response. It was always so nice when it was like this, so obedient and hardworking… not at all like its annoyingly defiant counterpart that he had no idea how to get rid of. Zim thought back to the destabilizing fusion core and how his computer couldn't remember the pass code… oh how it burned. But now was not the time to be remembering the past.

"Move the crate into Gir's room and fix this wall." Again the base beeped to confirm the command and Zim walked away satisfied that everything was still the deranged form of 'normal' that things always seemed to be in this world and more specifically, his base.

Meanwhile Gir ran up to the house side of the base and hopped into the freezer box, shutting the door behind him. He searched for the Tacos he thought he had hidden here. Only a moment afterwards Tak walked in from the TV room and looked into the bottom part of the refrigerator. She rummaged around before finding a can of soda. She couldn't believe her luck; the last Irken fizzy pop was just sitting there, waiting to be opened!

She shut the door with a triumphant smile that disappeared as soon as she opened the freezer and saw the defective robot. Tak screamed then Gir screamed then she screamed again as Gir snatched her soda and ran away screaming. The Irken chased after him yelling loud enough to alert the neighbor sitting out front of his house. He merely nodded to himself as this had become the norm in the neighborhood.

"Gir come back here with my soda!" She shouted as Gir dove into one of the nearby vents. Tak was so desperate and thirsty crawled in after him. Zim walked into the kitchen whistling a marching tune until he heard loud banging noises coming from somewhere above. Glancing up nervously he assessed the situation by listening carefully.

"Gir! Give me my Soda!" Zim heard Tak yell from one of the vent openings. He chuckled at his partner's misfortune until he checked the refrigerator for a nice drink that he had hidden earlier. Zim's eyes shot open; the last fizzy pop was gone! Finally he realized the situation: Gir had the last pop and Tak almost had him. Thinking quickly Zim grabbed a bag from the bottom shelf and yelled out.

"Gir! I have Tacos!" The entire house went silent. Suddenly the vent above him exploded showering bits of metal and dust along with Gir and Tak. The robot tackled Zim and grabbed the bag while dropping the pop.

Tak now covered in dust and overflowing with fury, locked eyes with Zim who glared back challenging her to make the first move. The can came to rest directly in between the two of them. A Tumbleweed blew by as someone whistled off in the distance. Only one would walk away with that soda, each was sure it would be them.

They both lunged at the same time. Zim grabbed it first and held it just out of reach as Tak reached for it while holding him in place with the rest of her body. To any interested observer it would look like she was trying to tear his head off with her elbows as he tried desperately to crawl away using only his legs.

"Give me the soda Zim!" She grunted out as they struggled. Zim was holding her back with one hand while trying to open the can with his teeth. Gir walked past them and put the bag in the microwave and tapped several buttons. The danger now was that he had typed in the wrong buttons and the base would explode. However they returned to the struggling as soon as the heating mechanism started up.

"It's mine! I ordered it!" Zim yelled defiantly as he shoved her away, hopped up and ran out of the room. Tak was having none of this so she activated her PAK's spider legs and dashed after him. He was somewhere in this room, she just knew it. Suddenly there was the sound of a pop being opened. She jumped up and grabbed the can from Zim who was perched on the ceiling using the aid of his PAK as well.

Unfortunately, before she landed Gir smashed into her in a blind haze of happiness, spilling pop all over her and Zim who was dropping to get her. He ran off with his beloved tacos as Zim and Tak yelled at the loss. They both landed with a thud and watched helplessly as the last sweet drops of a pricy soda were wasted with less than productive results.

"Noooooo My Soda!" Zim sobbed as the last wonderful drops of his soda soaked into the carpet, never to be seen again. Tak scowled at him as he seemed to belive that it was 'his' drink when she had fought harder for it and she had been the one to find it in the first place. Such thoughts disappeared as quickly as snow on a hot day and after a moment the two got up and walked out as if the fight had never happened. Tak was even smiling as she felt the lingering adrenalin from the thrill.

"Ah well. I'll go order the next crate in a moment." Zim commented as he opened the pantry. Tak looked over his shoulder to see if there was anything good. They each spotted a small bag of chips already half empty. Another whistle resounded in the background as they locked eyes again. The competition had begun once more.

Meanwhile Gir dove into a vent and wormed his way down several passages. Finally he came upon a medium sized room for the ventilation maintenance. Scattered around the room were rubber piggies, having tea parties and hidden under Gir's dog bed. There was a broken coat rack with his doggie outfit on it. Laying on one of Zim's favorite dinner plates that was on a brick with a lamp over it were the pieces of SIR unit Mimi.

Gir pried open the box the computer had laid in his room and looked inside. Sure enough the box had been labled right and there were indeed enough parts to build almost a hundred of himself. He stepped down and put on a doctor's outfit consisting of a mint green hair net, Zim's yellow rubber gloves, a biohazard mask Tak had been saving and last but not least an apron with the words kiss the cook on the front.

Gir walked over to the improvised operating table. There was a piggy with a hair net and another one of Tak's biohazard masks with an oil canister attached to its front hoof by means of rubber bands and staples on the other side of the table. In Gir's mind it was posing as a nurse to help him revive the 'patient.'

Gir quickly opened up Mimi's head and looked inside. There were several wires out of place and lots of fried machinery. He jumped into the box and grabbed the parts needed. He replaced everything that was broken and reattached the joints of her larger arm. The eye's receptor above her larger arm was shattered so 'Doctor' Gir removed it with tongs and attached the wires of the next one.

Gir opened up a nearby vent and dashed out. He ran around the house before finding Tak in Zim's room. She was standing next to his bed while looking at the holographic photos photos he had on the wall. Gir felt a twitch from his duty mode that he immediately suppressed. True the door to Zim's room was always locked and he wouldn't want Tak in there but this was more important.

"Oh uh Gir!" Tak stuttered out as she looked around nervously. Gir ran up to her quickly and ignored the shock and slight embarrassment that registered upon the cleanup drone's face, it was irrelevant to the current task.

"Scary lady! I needs your help!" He yelled while pulling her out of the room. Tak was confused but Gir didn't explain. Things got a little painful when he forcefully pulled her through several vents. Protesting only caused more pain but it didn't stop her from trying throughout the process. Several times she got stuck and the little robot had to double back and shove her along.

Finally Tak found herself in Gir's room. She marveled at how he turned the entire place into a madhouse with dirt and dried mud on the walls but her eyes quickly fell on Mimi. The SIR unit was reconstructed with precision that not even she could have matched. A few of the dents and scratches were covered with band aids but all details and wiring accounted for she was good as new.

"I needs your help!" Gir pleaded as he removed his outfit and opened his head. He pulled out a small SIR unit memory chip that looks like it might have been broken once but was now glued together and had one band aid on it. Tak instantly remembered her SIR unit's memory chip. It had been shattered so how did-. She saw the look in Gir's eyes. It was an unfamiliar type of sadness and determination, one that would not stand to be trifled with.

"I don no how to fix it." Gir said like a child as Tak looked into her Sir unit. She slowly opened the processer and stopped. Would it work? If it didn't would she be able to tell Gir that horrible truth? Hell more crazy things had been pulled off before so Tak slid the memory chip into its designated slot.

The response was immediate as Mimi's eyes flashed on red and then a type of purple. She scanned the room and found her master. She smiled down at the tiny robot just before Gir hugged Tak to the point of her spine cracking in several places. He then jumped up onto the plate and hugged Mimi the same way.

"Oh Mimi I missed you sooo much!" Gir yelled as she sensitively returned the hug with newly cyan eyes that reflected her new defectiveness. Tak was not too surprised as Mimi's chip shouldn't have worked at all. She was now more like Gir than not with the viruses Zim had given it back at their 'final battle'. Silently the Irken crawled out of Gir's hiding place with a smile on her face.

A year ago she would have been revolted at the thought of her SIR unit befriending Zim's but now she could see that the two were somewhat alike. A familiar defective Irken flashed into her memory for a moment but Tak didn't fully register it.

**Another oddly fun chapter to write. Here I tried to write Gir some more, easing into the idea before I get into some of the more major parts he plays in The Fault. I have decided that this will be a short preview to my first story that I will occasionally add onto and improve. So let me know what I mispelled, got out of order, tweaked wrong or just could work harder at, so I can fix it.**

**As for Gir, let me know how I'm doing. I cannot go on to write more chapters without putting him in. Also if you have any ideas for the story let me know. Surely the entire population of reviewers who read my stuff does not like my ideas. I would like someone to throw something in my face and say I suck. Gives me something to improve on. But I'm rambling, reviews are appreciated.**


	10. A Hint of Something More

Zim and Tak walked to school early in the morning. The weekend had passed slower than the ones before it as he no longer had any planning to do. His partner had demanded that they simply let earth decay a bit more before they strike. Zim hadn't complained at the slower-than-normal schedule. After all, they had all the time in the world to destroy the humans.

Tak eyed every lamppost they walked past them, weary of any traps laid by Dib. Zim watched her do this with an amused smile playing at the very farthest edges of his tired face. He knew almost for sure that no new traps would have been laid today. The human seemed to believe that each new plan should be original and based off of prior knowledge.

"The Dib worm won't have put any traps today." He said rather smugly as the smile began to spread like an evil shadow over his face. Tak noticed his tone and stopped walking at a very specific place. Zim, still smiling and walking confidently, tripped over the same wire from before and face planted on the hard cement. Tak suppressed a chuckle and kept her face straight before altering her voice to the dumbed down human pitch.

"Gee Zim I would have never guessed." Zim stood up and glared at her, his eyes were tearing up from the sudden sharp pain. Tak felt a need to comfort him and tell him he will be alright or that she was just joking. It was stronger than before so she simply patted him on the back. An awkward gesture that was hesitant and misplaced. If anyone were to be watching they might notice that she was unfamiliar with comforting anything, let alone a partner.

"What are you doing Tak?" Zim asked carefully. He was somewhat distrustful but a part of him appreciated the effort to comfort him in such a moment of pain. He made sure to check his back for any new kick me signs despite this possibly misleading feeling. Indeed the memories of his unsuccessful attempts at wooing her were still fresh in his mind. Good Irk the pain.

"I don't know? Trying to make you feel better?" Tak asked herself as much as she was asking him. Zim smiled to himself at the thought of needing to be comforted. Tak was deep into her own thoughts when that all too familiar numbness shot through each of their PAKs. With new clarification of mind they continued onward as if the awkward moment had never even occurred.

Dib and Gaz followed about thirty yards behind them. She had her ever present game slave and he was rambling on about plans for the future and hatred for Zim.

"I can't believe that Tak would side with Zim! She's actually competent and good at disguises and then she gets together with Zim? The worst screw up even by earth standards?" Dib continued on and finally Gaz could take it no more. It had been like this for some time. Her brother would ramble on and on in his stupid voice that grated on her nerves like a rusty knife.

"You know Dib you sound kind of jealous." She said without even looking at him. Dib was confused for a moment before dismissing it as his sister's usual cryptic attitude and questions.

"Of who?" He asked not really caring about the answer.

"Maybe you want to be with Tak instead of Zim being with her." Dib stopped walking and Gaz did the same out of habit. He looked at her with a confused and distrustful glare. Little did he know, his mind was working on one of the top logical levels of his brain when the problem rested somewhere deeper… the basement perhaps?

"What are you saying? And even if I thought like that then I would have no problem because Zim and Tak aren't' together'." Dib replied somewhat heatedly and with more of a back-away-from-the-topic-now look. Gaz realized she had hit a nerve and saved her game before putting it away and accepting his challenge with one of her own.

"Yes I think that's exactly what going on here, you like her don't you?" Dib's eye twitched at the thought of him and an Alien together. But then again… he would be the first to ever date an Alien if he succeeded… no he couldn't. Some deep based morals that he had always carried would never allow him. Like a weight that dug into the ground every time he tried to pull it in a certain direction. Dib could suddenly feel his sister squinting at him expectantly, knowing damn well that he was actually considering it, and loving the fact that she was making it miserable for him.

"No. It's just that now they are even more powerful." Dib rationalized his feelings more for his sister than for himself. Gaz nodded, she saw right through his little facade and was sympathetic of his denial. Or maybe she wasn't. She had no more sympathy to spare for him this year or the next for anyone concerned about their almost nonexistent relationship as brother and sister.

"It's just not fair! Zim gets someone to help him out with everything and I'm still stuck as the lone defender of Earth!" Dib was becoming depressed with his situation. He was alone against an entire empire. Sure there was the swollen eyeball agency but even they refused to give much help aside from info every now and again. Not even his sister helped him other than the offhand life save every now and again from almost certain doom. Of course this was not much of a save now that he thought about it. The human continued to get lost in his own hopelessness until his sister broke the chain of concentration.

"Yep and I bet your going to fail at it." Dib almost broke out in tears as he heard his only sister say this. Despite what she may think he really did care what she thought about him. To eliminate the possibility of further ridicule and damage to his self respect he ran the rest of the way to school. He had a feeling that Gaz didn't even care, let alone look up from her newly rebooted game.

An hour later Zim sat in class. He was beginning to drool on the desk as he started to fall asleep. Last night had been occupied with more training. Tak had decided that they both were dropping bellow regular standards for normal soldiers and far below the worst invader. Thirty laps around the base's track and then target practice, cycling every hour… all night. Needless to say, he was exhausted.

Ms. Bitters noticed this on one of her rounds of scanning through the children. Many were asleep despite how vital the lesson was so she crept up on Zim to make an example. Before Tak could say anything, the teacher snared, slamming her hands on the desk yelling "Wake up!" Zim literally jumped out of his seat and onto Zita's. The small gothic girl leaned back to avoid being knocked from her seat by the startled invader. Several students that were jarred out of their depression by the sudden shout looked up to see what the cause was.

"Pay Attention Zim!" Ms. Bitters yelled at him as she stalked back to her desk. Turning back to face the class, she snarled in one more in blatant disgust for the other student's falling asleep again. Children… the leaders of the new world? What a sick joke that not even she could think up, much less want to.

"These lessons will help prepare you for your wretched life!" Bitters finished as Zim sat back in his seat and propped his head up on the desk with one hand. Tak snickered at him and he chuckled a bit to ease the humiliation that came from being called out in public over something stupid like sleeping.

It took only a moment for Zim to get bored once more. He pulled out a white piece of paper and a pencil and drew a line. He studied it for a moment before he set to work. He was focusing so intently that he didn't notice Ms. Bitters creeping up on him once more. She quickly snatched his drawing from his desk.

"What's this?" She asked, or more correctly, shouted. Zim's face blushed deep green as he sank into his desk. Tak was amused until Ms. Bitters looked at her then back at the drawing. Obviously there was some sort of similarity or something that she could trace back to her.

"If you think you can draw during one of my lectures then we might as well show the whole class your artwork shouldn't we Zim?" Zim shook his head blushed even more and sank even lower into his desk. Ms. Bitters held up his drawing for all to see, it was Tak. Dib's jaw hit the floor and his hand shook as he reached for the note pad he carried for occasions such as this. Could be important.

More specifically it was a profile view of Tak without her disguise. However, no one but Dib and an awestruck Tak seemed to care much to Zim's relief. The bell rang and Zim snatched the picture from the scowling teacher and stowed it in his PAK before rushing with Tak to their lunch table.

"What was-" Tak started without even looking at Zim when they sat at their lunch table but she was cut off, rather rudely I might add, by her partner.

"Not now." Zim grumbled as he unwrapped his sandwich. They sat and ate in complete silence; he had no idea why he had chosen to draw Tak. Some impulse in his head had told him that that line looked kind of like her antenna. Indeed it was stupid to draw her out of disguise as Tak and her human form look very similar. It would not take a trained professional to see the resemblance in the two as their clothes only shifted slightly.

They finished and walked outside in complete and total silence. The deathly silence usually reserved for space, graveyards and the occasional mindless reader's but not reviewer's head. Even footsteps and other voices seemed muffled in Zim's mind. Oddly enough, he felt no different from any other day, it was just everything else being weird.

On the particular day Zim and Tak walked out into the fenced off playground and stood awkwardly by the swings. Tak didn't get on the swings like normal Zim didn't watch Dib like normal. And for Dib this held a deep significance. Perhaps he could use this new information against them later.

An anger previously unknown to Dib began to rise up into the small boy. He had no idea where it spawned from other than the image of Zim having a gay old time drawing Tak for his own amusement. Unfortunately this anger lacked direction and control so it was portrayed upon everyone and everything. Plans were tossed aside and direct action took control for the moment.

**Short chapter. I know, I'm sorry. Work has been brutal these last few days and I find myself with barely any time to myself anymore. Well… I tried to dip into the idea that they both were starting to feel a slight twinge of something nothing they know about yet or anything they will act upon anytime soon.**

**Rules of like\dislike or rushing still stand, majority rules bla bla bla. I personally don't like this chapter, shortness aside, it was… just wrong. The feeling I get when I read it is different, and not in a good way. The next chapter will be much longer and on time to avoid death by flames and to keep my personal integrity from falling apart. Until next time, enjoy the crap chapter I wrote over the twenty minute breaks I have at work.**

**On a related note. Let me know if I spelled something wrong. All PAK PAC and Irken Irkan terms aside it is really annoying when I go through my month old files and find a blatant mistake that all of you missed and\or refused to tell me about. Makes me feel stupid and can't be fun for you guys either. To avoid all of that, just let me know. Mostly corrected but still it might have a few out there.**


	11. Finishing the Confusion

It was a normal day; polluted red sky and black smoky clouds. The orange sun beat down on one particular city and more specifically, the city school. The playground had lost its depressing way of comforting two totally normal children on this day. They stood back in the 'corner' near the swings and watched the children play, laugh and fall over from heat strokes.

The taller one, a female, seemed somewhat perturbed and confused while the second, a male, simply ignored all of these feelings. Acting on PAK guided logic she wondered what goal her partner could be working towards by drawing her. Could he be working for a weakness or be working on some sort of bio-weapon to dispose of her?

"Can I see it again?" Tak asked curiously. Zim didn't see the harm in showing her it again. If he didn't then she would become suspicious of the nonexistent. He took the paper from his PAK and handed it to her. Tak studied it with a critical eye, looking for any and all errors. It only took a moment for her to respond.

"That's pretty good Zim." She smiled at him warmly. Zim shrugged and slid the paper back into his PAK. He could never admit to Tak, or anyone else for that matter, how much her simple words meant to him as a respected teacher\leader.

Dib walked up to them from behind him. One quick kick to Zim's crotch and he was on the ground and out of his way. There was a good year of pent up anger and frustration behind that kick and his enemy would be walking weirdly for quite a while. Dib stepped over Zim who was now on the ground in fetal position sobbing uncontrollably. His partner regarded this with amused surprise. Her PAK and greater logic told her that he had let his guard down and would be wiser next time. No sympathy was reserved for this moment.

"Okay. What's going on between you and Zim?" Dib asked Tak heatedly. Tak decided that Zim would be fine without her so she stayed to humor the human. The Dib had apparently cast aside his usual attempts to be professional and smooth and replaced them with direct undisguised violence. Such a pity… he could have been something of a challenge for her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Dibs right eye twitched in pure aggravation. Tak was amused that she was able to anger him to the point of muscle spasms. Dib would later swear that he could only see red and feel rage at that moment.

"Don't Play Games! I Know You have A Plan!" Dib was literally screaming into her face and it frightened her a little bit. Years of training did not allow these emotions to reach her face however.

"Why do you wear steel toed boots to school Dib?" Zim hissed out through the pain in the background causing Tak to notice him again. Their little problems could wait until she was more prepared.

A lot of the other children noticed the situation and thought a fight was coming up. They swarmed around Dib and Tak who were standing over Zim who was still in great pain. Tak was in no mood to please such childish impulses so she helped Zim to his feet and walked out of the crowd despite several furious cries from Dib. In time they faded away to be replaced by furious mocking from the other children who had been expecting a fight to entertain them. Tak smirked and kept going.

"Have you ever thought of just wearing a cup to school?" Tak asked Zim as she practically dragged him home. The female struggled under his weight as he sagged beneath his own pain but tried to lessen the burden for her despite its throbbing presence.

"Too good for such pathetic human inventions…" he groaned out through the pain. Tak scoffed at how stubborn he was. If it helped then what does it matter if it's human or not? Tak corrected herself, there was a difference whether something was human or Irken. A big difference.

"We… Have to go back… They'll get suspicious." Zim was able to walk better but he wasn't going back to school like this. If he started coughing up blood then the entire mission could be jeopardized. The nurse would realize that he wasn't human this time. Last time had been a stroke of her partners constant well of luck.

"Come one Zim, you're in pain." She said very coddling. It was as if she were speaking to an ignorant child. Zim cringed inward as he knew deep down that she was right and he was being childish. However, he felt that the Dib would mock him for leaving, like surrendering without any form of terms. A humiliation that the human would never let him live down under all possible circumstances. Sadly true, but going back was not the right answer. Irken pride got in the way of his logic and caused him to remain defiant.

"No I have to go back." Zim said weakly as he started to turn around. Tak was going to have none of it and she quickly grabbed his shoulder and spun him around to face her. This arrogance and defiance would not be tolerated by anyone who served next to her in a conquest against the earth. Not to mention the fact that he had talked back and second guessed her decisions and judgment of a situation concerning him. Zim grunted in pain as she spun him to face her.

"Zim! We are going home and you are going to rest!" She said like her old drill sergeant would have. Something flashed in Zim's eyes as she ordered him and he followed her as she went home without further provocation. Working hard, he was able to walk normally, even if he was going a bit slower than normal.

Tak marveled at how much power she held over him. But as she thought more and more, he now held a certain power over her now that he held her respect, perhaps they held equal influence? A scary thought, that he held any power over her, a former enemy that could turn at any moment. She would have to work on that.

Tak opened the front door and they walked in. Zim hopped onto the couch and she sat next to him. He had finally regained his composure and was simply sitting carefully. Tak relaxed after a moment and deactivated her disguise. She was tired after lugging Zim all the way to their base and planning with him still took a lot of energy. She was sure no one would mind if she closed her eyes for a bit.

Unknowingly she leaned up against Zim as she fell asleep. Zim went stiff and dared not move. Why was Tak leaning on him? Was she asleep or just making him uncomfortable for the laughs? During these creepily awkward thoughts Gir walked and with Mimi and looked at them. The little robot smiled a little too widely and clasped his hands together in an misplaced sign of someone seeing adorability.

"Aw masters cuddling with the mean lady!" Gir whispered to Zim much to his annoyance. Mimi let out a silent chuckle and covered her nonexistent mouth with her large hand. Zim scowled at his SIR unit as they made more silent, but still degrading gestures that caused him to blush deep green and look away.

Zim suddenly realized he could be here for a while so he leaned back and closed his eyes as they walked out the room and into the kitchen. He dared not wake her up for fear of horrible retribution by the female so he would have to wait and hope not waking her deserves less painful consequences.

Tak opened her eyes a few hours later, she was warm and comfortable. She shifted her position to her side. This pillow is soft… She thought before fully waking up. This time when Tak woke up she quickly realized that she was lying on top of Zim with her head on his chest and her hand on his stomach. Zim had fallen asleep and had unknowingly draped his arm around her and was holding her side.

Tak went stiff. She couldn't move or she would wake him up but she couldn't stay like this. As she thought of a way to escape sleep started to creep into her mind once more, it was late and they were already like this so maybe Zim wouldn't mind if she used him as a pillow for the night. Tak fell asleep once more. Her tired mind rationalized that this was nothing less than professional.

Zim cracked an eye open. He looked down at the Irken sleeping on his chest. He was so tired that he barely even registered it was Tak. Unknowing of the danger he caressed her antenna as she slept. She sighed contently and shifted on top of him. Zim fully awoke when her hand that wasn't on his chest started to explore his inner thighs. The pain was still fresh from earlier so he yelped out in pain.

Tak jumped off of him but tripped in mid air as he rolled off the couch from the force of her jump. Meanwhile Zim had fallen off of the couch and hit his head. It took a moment for the two to right themselves but even when they did it was just open mouthed silence. No amount of reasoning could explain to them exactly what had just happened.

"Did you just try to grope me?" Zim breathed out, more shocked than anything. Tak was just as startled, even thought she would never admit it; she had been partially awake at that moment. Not to the point where she had any idea what she was doing, but enough to understand she was doing something.

"Did you stroke my antenna?" Tak asked after some thought of what had just happened. They both stood there in awed silence. The seconds ticked by in what felt like hours the two Irken invaders and it did not take long for their PAKs to recognise the lack of productiveness.

"Well… Uh I guess I should be going to recharge…" Zim coughed nervously as he quickly left the room without that confident march that she had taught him, even stumbling at the door. Tak was still in shock and felt that her body was betraying her. This was not some cute, good looking Irken he was… Zim… No! Tak screamed in her head, something was wrong.

It took only a moment for the inevitable to happen. Zim felt it as he walked out of the room and Tak felt it when she began to question her relationship with her partner. That bone rattling vibration similar to a dog getting shocked by a shock collar only worse. Their PAK's recognized the anomaly in their emotional patterns and sent out even more suppressors. Records indicated that this had been the third time in one cycle. This was due for immediate correction.

Elsewhere… somewhere above Zim's enormous base, in his houses exact neighborhood, there was a small ring of houses where one big headed child lived with his never present father and occasionally abusive sister.

Dib stood on the roof of his house. He had been listening to military transmitions but now he was just looking over the edge. It was a long fall. The wind blew his black coat around him, it would be so easy; just one small gust and he would tip over and plummet. Dib looked up at the sky and squinted at whatever devious, all knowing and ever plotting overlord could be laughing at him from a thone of clouds.

"Come on. You've never held back before." He whispered to the twinkling stars. They looked back at him defiantly. He was alone against an entire empire and he was doomed to fail. Gaz herself had told him that he would.

"Why don't you just end it? Do you get some sick pleasure out of this?" Dib asked the stars. There was a sound bellow him. The front door opened, Gaz walked out into their front yard and looked up at him. Weird that she chose this moment to come out.

"Dib what are you doing?" She asked quietly and almost like a person. Her voice was lacking that mocking sting that had always been there before. This was more than just unexpected, it was just weird. Unfortunately Dib was far too deep in his own mind to be concerned with his sisters sudden change in heart, no matter how shocking it may once have seemed to himself. Trying to dismiss her quickly Dib responded with no openings for a new conversation.

"Oh you know… I'm just being crazy." Gaz looked up at him, his eyes were red and his voice was far too calm. Their dad wasn't home so she couldn't turn to him for help with the situation she knew was building and could come to climax soon. This was up to her. Indeed it was only a matter of time before someone pushed Dib over the edge, she had always known that. She had not been expecting it tonight however and had expected more time to plan out her response, improvising would have to do.

"Well could you stop for a few minutes to watch some TV with me?" Gaz found that each of these words came out sincerely. She had always cared for Dib as her brother but she thought it was a sign of weakness to show anyone, even their father her emotions. She did what she could… in a way. Even if it seemed like nothing to outsiders, she knew her brother understood their complicated brother-sister relationship. At least to a degree that Dib could comprehend.

"D-Do you really mean that?" Dib asked distrustfully, she hadn't insulted him once since she walked out of the house. The strangeness of it all finally pierced through his dangerous thoughts and her sincerity and willingness to spend time with him had pulled a gap wide enough to offer him hope. Not wanting to end it all now, the human accepted this lifeline readily with a small twitch of the mouth that some would call a smile.

"If you really want to. There's a rerun of Mysterious Mysteries on if you want to watch it." Dib sniffed and looked over the edge again. He looked up at the stars and for a moment, he didn't feel so alone anymore. That merciless overlord now had a lighter side that offered a glimpse of temporary happiness.

"Okay, I'll meet you down there." Dib called down. He decided to use the stairs instead as a few tears were slipping down his face, he did not want to ruin the happy moment by letting Gaz get disgusted with him. Dib didn't even notice the girl watching him from the roof of the house across from his.

Zita sat at the edge of her house's roof. She had watched Dib as he got up to the roof and then walked to the edge of his house, she had watched as his sister came out and stopped him, knowingly or unknowingly was yet to be seen. He may be crazy but that didn't mean that he deserved the fate he was about to choose for himself. No one did.

Zita didn't believe in aliens or ghosts but she did believe that everyone at school should at least learn to tolerate Dib for his own sake. The whole crazy bit had gone on long enough in her eyes. The mocking and overall torment was something a kid with no friends could only go through so much of.

Zita could understand a little bit from Dib's standpoint. She knew what it was like to have no real family. She watched as he grew up without a mother and his father spent months at a time out of the house. Quite frankly, it reminded her of her own family.

Perhaps someday she could learn to get along with Dib. Perhaps on that day he would convince someone that Bigfoot had been using the belt sander in his garage. Perhaps that day would be soon, but not today. None the less, Zita knew for sure now that Dib had dodged a bullet on that roof, even if he didn't yet realize it or know to accept it.

**I promised and ensured to work hard and I sincerely home that I delivered. I wanted to close up yesterdays situation and even escalate it a bit as I got some feedback that seemed to believe it was a ZaGr fanfiction. I assure you that their PAK's saved my hide as now they will not work towards a relationship until I force it on them like god with Adam and Eve. Gave some of you more fluffy people hope for a minute and tried to tear it away. Oh Me.**

**As for ZaGr… I have read plenty of those fics and I have to say; boring. Nine times out of ten people go overboard with the whole emotionless thing and end up with a quote on quote 'sterile' relationship. I honestly have no problem with it to all you emotionless lovers but none the less, I thought I would clear up the air with all that.**

**Do I even have to state the rules of writing anymore? You all have it by now right? Well… Leave a helpful and informative Review and I will reward you with a much better chapter up next. If not then you have to put up with the same mistakes because I need your help to find them.**


	12. Respite

Tallest red slumped down in his lounge couch after a long days work. Contrary to popular belief, the work of a tallest was almost never done, and often left them too drained to do anything more. It was always paperwork and paperwork and calls and calls so when it was done of course they would indulge in some of the more preferable aspects of being taller than the rest of their race. It just so happens that they took a lot of calls during this 'off' time so that became what most of their people saw of them.

On the average day he would still be working like purple but thankfully when the work had been divided up between the two of them, purple had gotten stuck with the treasury and accounting half while he had received the ceremony awards. While purple cataloged their monies inventory to make sure the treasurer had recorded right, red had to sit through the daily graduation ceremony for all their new soldiers. It wasn't entertaining but much better than the other option. He certainly enjoyed how the crowds ate up the occasional wave and smile. Purple had wanted the ceremonies but fairs fair in the flip of a coin.

Despite the unusually long and monotonous service and how tired it left him, red sat down with the slightest traces of a world weary smile and a relaxed mind. He knew for sure that tonight would go undisturbed as that little thorn Zim wouldn't call on one of his hourly 'updates.' Had he paid attention during his training, that little defective would know all too well that you were only supposed to fill out the report forums every ten rotations and contact every one hundred. Did that stop him before? Of course not, but that was all in the past.

Now that he was gone, everything was simpler. Work was work and relaxation was relaxation. No more calls, no more dodging hazardous attempts to get their attention, no more loom of possible death hanging around every corner, and most importantly; no more Zim. Even the most adamant and demanding foreign diplomat or the most powerful and violent opposing empire could not even hope to compare to the chaos and destruction that Zim could create without even thinking about it at all.

Red tapped a few buttons on the side of his chair and waited. In no time, a panel opened up in front of him and a small platter rose up holding a fizzy pop of his favorite flavor and the transmitter remote. Red tasted the pop before propping his feet up and waiting for the television screen to descend. Seemingly faster than usual, the large screen slid down and primed, switching it on the red tallest noticed that there were great shows on everywhere. This day was really coming to a pleasant end.

Now that red thought of it, the entire day had been a breeze, not just now. The transfers around the planet had taken less time than usual, the guards more alert and formal, the drones bowed more like royal servants and the diplomats much less demanding. Now in the lounge, the pop tastes fresher, the commercials are shorter, less annoying, and the cushions seem to have been made on Vort with how comfortable they are.

What could have caused this miraculous and very welcomed change? He only had to think for a moment before coming to the conclusions that things should be like this now that Zim was gone. What other excuse was there that could possibly have taken place conveniently after his banishment? No, it had to be the fact that his little broken and defective drone had been thrown away at long last. Nothing less than what Zim deserved after their previous tallest's death. But red cast those thoughts out of his head immediately after they entered.

It was not too long before Purple floated in and crashed at the other end of the couch, letting out a long hard sigh. He looked over and noticed a certain grin on his friend's face, it was rather lopsided and ridiculous looking with his eyes half closed. Little did he know, that as they watched television and relaxed, a similar smile drifted across his own face. It was a look of satisfaction and placated-ness that had avoided them for so long.

As they watched TV the silence spilled over them like a relaxing wave of sunlight. The tallest knew that feeling, it was warm but not uncomfortably so, where you just feel your eyes slipping closed in the path of inevitable sleep that will be very restful and rewarding. Red had not encountered this feeling in quite a while. Not ever since… Glancing over at his co leader to distract himself, he noticed Purple had already let his head hit the couch cushions in defeat in the battle against rest.

Unwilling to give in so easily, red focused intently on the TV. The lights kept him awake for but a few more minutes before his will began to crumble as well. The remote hit the floor as red fell into a sleep so deep his PAK needed only to recharge for but a few minutes before it was absolutely re-energized. Both the Tallest felt so sure that leaving Zim on his own was one of the best decisions made by either of them since their short reign over the empire.

Dib opened his eyes. He had fallen asleep in his room after watching TV with Gaz. Nice end to an annoying begging, too bad that the sun had to rise a good twelve hours before he would truly have gotten enough sleep. As it was, he would have to get out of the warm covers anyway to go to school and return to the depressing reality that was his life.

Dib looked at the clock before rolling out of bed onto the floor in a tragically hopeless attempt to hit the alarm off button. He got up, turned off the alarm, got dressed, brushed his teeth and trudged downstairs so tiredly that in a way, some would believe he was already a zombie. Something felt slightly different in the vibe of the day but he was far too tired to think about it.

Gaz was eating her burnt toast when he walked in and the good mornings went silent just like every other day. Sitting down Dib took a bite out of his toast and compared it's texture and solidity to that of the average concrete block. The analogy refused to amuse him for more than two seconds after it was formed and soon the monotonous routine set in with the impeding humiliation that came with school.

The left soon after breakfast and just like any other day, Tak and Zim walked ahead of them, only on this particular day, neither spoke to the other. Dib would usually feel the need to say something about this to his sister, which was the equivalent of talking to himself, but the boy felt that she could go a day without his ramblings. Other than this new discovery, the walk to the large ominous building was unusually quick and yet uneventful. It was towards the end of the walk that Dib began to notice the underlying weirdness of the day.

Entering class he sat down early as usual and thought to himself while trying to ignore the looming shadow of doom in the corner that could only be Ms. Bitters. Something was different today and that might not be a good thing, so he compared past days to this one only to find nothing wrong.

The sky was still red, the grass was still razor sharp and Ms. Bitters was still less optimistic than any executioner so what could possibly be wrong? The bell rang at its usual time and the lunch food was still inedible mind controlling slop so what was this feeling. The human glanced over at his arch nemesis's and noticed nothing different about them. The only odd thing about the two evil aliens sitting at the other end of the lunch room was that neither was talking to the other.

Dib sat down at one of the benches during lunch. It was still hard and uncomfortable. Gas sat next to him with her game system, and she was as quiet as every other day and squinting just as hard at her piggies as always. The game system's sounds were still annoying and thought interrupting but that wasn't the problem. It was deeper, he could feel it.

"Gaz, does something feel… I don't know… Different today?" Gaz shrugged and grunted in her usual way of ending any conversation before it even began. Dib looked around. There was still a barbed fence around the playground and the other kids were playing as always. Tak was on the swings and Zim stood nearby watching the children wearily. Neither looked like they were up to anything suspicious.

Thinking something could be wrong with himself Dib slipped on his Ex-scope and checked his body over. After a quick run over he was confident that there was nothing different physically about him so what was unusual? The bell rang once more and everyone went into class. Dib walked a bit slower than his classmates and sat in his desk last.

The day dragged on for everyone else but it felt like only two minutes for Dib before he found himself walking home. He stopped walking and Gaz passed him without a wonder as to what he was doing. He had to figure out what was different today. Running the events over in his head he found nothing. Discouraged Dib stared to walk home again with his head hung low.

He had only taken two steps before it hit him. Not one single insult had been fed to him all day. That was rare but maybe this was just one of those days? No it couldn't be that, Dib hadn't gone a day in his life without someone calling him weird, big headed or crazy. Starting to wonder if the world was ending, the human began to panic. Calming himself with less alarming thoughts he leaned up against a nearby building.

Maybe this was a good thing? Did he dare hope that his fellow classmates were maturing? No he couldn't allow himself the inevitable letdown that would undoubtedly ensue. It would be another wait and see thing to add to his list apparently. He sighed weakly and started walking again slowly, what did he have to look forward to at home anyway?

Dib spotted Zim ahead, he and Tak were absolutely quiet when normally they were laughing and talking. It didn't take a paranormal investigator to notice that something wasn't right between them today. Something he could use to split the two apart and make his job easier? One could hope so. Dib dove behind some cars and caught up with them while keeping his head down. Zim and Tak were just starting a conversation just as he got within earshot of them.

"Zim clearly there is something going on and I want to know what it is." Tak questioned Zim carefully. He just shrugged, obviously attempting to be indifferent to the situation and yet end the conversation as soon as possible. Yet despite his best attempts, the small Irken shivered slightly at the thought of his previously invincible partner, not having any idea what was happening in a given situation. This left them both in the dark for the moment.

"It has to be some type of hormone, is mating season coming up soon?" Zim asked carefully. Tak tried a little too hard to look revolted but she still answered.

"No. Not for another three months." Zim sighed as he listened to her answer. He failed to notice that since she knew this information, she had looked it up prior to his asking and therefore had been researching for herself without him.

"I'll run a scan on our PAKs when we get back. You haven't eaten anything Gir cooks have you?" Zim added the last sentence as an urgent afterthought. Some of the things that little robot put in his food weren't natural or in some (or most) cases edible.

"Oh Irk, no. The last cake he made looked like it was moving." Zim chuckled lightly, and after a moment Tak joined him. Their amusement died down and the awkwardness settled back in like a cloud of doom. There was a slight scuffling sound behind the cars next to them that appears to have gone unnoticed between the two Ikens.

"So I've finally found where Dib is keeping my ship." Tak tried to keep a conversation going between them. This had been the most contact they shared during the duration of an entire school day. Even being so close to each other all day, lunch, recess, classroom, they hadn't talked much since the incident two days before and it was really starting to have a negative impact on their progress, forgetting it would be best for now.

"Really? Are we going to get it tonight?" Zim asked curiously. Tak nodded, in truth, she had been rather disgusted to find out that the human was so stupid as to keep alien technology in his home base. So lazy he couldn't even make the game challenging by hiding it, pathetic. But she was even more puzzled that he had not tried to use this as proof of alien existence for his fellow primates. The Dib really must be as stupid as her partner always claimed.

"I just hope he hasn't done too much with it. I want it all to be a quick fix." Tak said absentmindedly as she twirled a bit of her holographic hair with her finger. The human probably didn't even know what it was even after all this time since he didn't turn it in or use it against Zim.

"If it turns out to be too much of a problem I can help you with it. Who knows what the Dib human has done with such advanced technology." Tak shuddered at the thought of Dib in her ship. Dib figured he had heard enough and ran home to prepare for them. He had to protect it.

"Do you think he bought it?" Tak whispered to Zim after the sound of boots against pavement faded away. The Invader waited a moment before answering, suspicious that the Dib might still be listening with his usual bad timing. Someone really needed to educate the human on the meaning of sneaking though as they knew he was there the moment they started talking about Tak's ship.

"I don't have a doubt about it." He whispered back when enough time had passed to be sure, smiling to his partner in a self satisfied way, they both continued down the sidewalk and back to the base to spring their cleverly set trap.

**Good god this was a B***** to find. I thought I had it weeks ago but as it turns out they were my edited versions. I had to remake a few chapters that will remain unmentioned. Does it even matter to you all if I apologize? For all I know, everyone gave up on me ever getting anything back up. But I'm sure the next Guilty Bystander will be pleased that I got it out for him. So… sorry, I am sorry! This has been keeping me awake at night recently.**


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